


Book One: Water & Beginnings

by SoTellMeAboutYourself



Series: Passion in Avatar [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adventure, Beginnings, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Family, Fanart, Fantasy, Gen, Hints of Main Relationship, Love, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Build, Voice of Reason, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-03-12 10:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 79,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13545639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoTellMeAboutYourself/pseuds/SoTellMeAboutYourself
Summary: Celina has always been known as a freak in the Southern Water Tribe. While her adoptive family is very loving and kind Celina still can't help but feel like she doesn't belong. When the Avatar shows up she takes the chance to join him, exploring the world and finding out more about herself while evading the Fire Nation and its prince.





	1. The Boy in the Iceberg

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy and please leave a review

          Sitting in a canoe for hours wasn't the most exciting thing. But Celina was content, happy to spend some quality time with her siblings away from the rest of the village. Even if watching her younger brother try to catch a fish was a bit hopeless.

          "It's not getting away from me this time. Watch and learn, girls. This is how you catch a fish," Sokka announced confident. Celina let out a small, quiet chuckle. Her younger sister responded with looking over the edge of the canoe and into the water, finding a fish. She looked over to Celina for some encouragement, which the older girl quickly gave with a nod, before taking off her glove. With a deep breath, she began to move her hand, causing a globe of water containing the fish to burst out of the water. An ecstatic look graced the bender's face as she successfully bended the water. Celina smiled, proud of her little sister.

          "Celina, Sokka, look!" Katara cried out about her accomplishment.

          "Shhh. Katara, you're gonna scare it away," Sokka whispered, trying not to scare away the fish he was practically drooling over already. "Mmmm…I can already smell it cookin'!"

          "Sokka, can you just take a minute to look at what Katara's trying to show you?" Celina asked as she watched Katara struggle to try and keep the blob of water floating. Unfortunately, Sokka didn't get a chance to see the fish that she caught as Sokka raised his spear, accidentally bursting the bubble of water on top of him and sending the fish jumping back into the water.

          "Hey!" Katara protested.

          "Ugh! Why is it that every time you play with magic water I get soaked?" Sokka asked exasperated.

          "It's not magic. It's waterbending," Katara corrected.

          "Yeah, yeah, an ancient art unique to our culture, blah, blah, blah," Sokka repeated, having heard Katara's speech multiple times before.

          "Which is why you should respect Katara trying to learn it," Celina pointed out.

          "Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself," Sokka said. Celina couldn't help but wince at his words though Katara didn't seem as bothered.

          "You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water," Katara shot back. Celina couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw Sokka display what Katara was talking about. What grabbed her attention though was when the boat bumped into ice. Looking up she gasped to see that they had floated into a packed area.

          "Guys, trouble ahead!" Celina shouted and grabbed a paddle. The other siblings quickly followed her actions as they frantically tried to maneuver the canoe between in ice. The trio tried their best to try and dodge all the ice that was seeming targeting them, with Celina and Sokka rowing and Katara shouted out which way to steer. In the end, they weren't swift enough as ice collided, crushing the canoe and sending the siblings sprawled out onto floating ice.

          "You call that left?" Katara angrily mocked, directing all of her aggression towards Sokka.

          "You don't like my steering. Well, maybe you should have waterbended us out of the ice. Besides, Celina was helping me steer too," Sokka shot back.

          "So it's our fault?" Katara asked pissed off.

          "Alright guys, try to calm down," Celina interjected, knowing that a fight was brewing.

          "I knew I should have left you home. Leave it to a girl to screw things up," Sokka commented. Celina closed her eyes in exasperation, knowing that there was no way she could save Sokka from Katara's rage now.

          "You are the most sexist, immature, nut-brained…Ugh! I'm embarrassed to be related to you!" Katara ranted, getting more worked up. Celina had to admit, some of the things Katara was saying were true, Sokka was a bit of a sexist. A crack ran through the iceberg alerting Celina as to what Katara was doing. "Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!"

          It was the second crack that grabbed Sokka's attention. "Uh…Katara?" he piped up.

          "I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT!" Katara continued ranting.

          "Katara, please, calm down," Celina tried.

          "No. I'm done helping him!" she shouted. That seemed to break the iceberg as it sent on last damaged crack into it before it fell apart, creating waves which sent the ice they were on floating back.

          "Okay, you've gone from weird to freakish, Katara," Sokka sassed.

          "You mean I did that?" Katara asked amazed.

          "Yup. Congratulations," Sokka replied sarcastically.

          "This is why you should be encouraging her to practice," Celina commented. A bright glow from under the water sent the siblings moving back on the ice. They watched as an even bigger iceberg made its way to the surface, floating right in front of them. The girls peered closure to it, confused by the rippled image of a small and large figure within the ice. All of them gasped as the smaller figures eyes and what looked to be arrow markings glow white.

          "He's alive! We have to help!" Katara exclaimed before grabbing Sokka's boomerang and headed closer towards the iceberg. Celina followed by grabbing Sokka's spear and headed with Katara towards the iceberg. If that person in the ice really was alive then she was going to help get them out.

          Sokka, however, protested as his sisters took both of his weapons. "Katara! Celina! Get back here! We don't know what that thing is!" The girls ignored him as they made their way over to the iceberg and began to whack the ice with their weapons, trying to get the person out. It was only after a few good whacks that it cracked from top to bottom, exploding open in a burst of light. Sokka had made it over to them and tried to shield both of his sisters. He managed to get Katara but Celina was too tall, though she herself was capable enough to shield her eyes from the beaming light. As the light stopped Celina, Sokka, and Katara looked up watched as a bald boy walked out of the iceberg before fainting. Katara was the first to react, catching the boy before he hit the ground. A groan later and his eyes opened as he looked up at Katara.

          "I need to ask you something?" the boy said.

          "What?" Katara asked. "What is it?"

          "Will you go penguin sledding with me?" he asked, sounding normal if not excited like nothing had happened.

          "Um…sure. I guess," Katara responded, confused. The boy quickly jumped up to his feet.

          "What's going on here?" the boy asked confused.

          "You tell us! How'd you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?" Sokka questioned.

          "I'm not sure," the boy admitted. Celina noted the different clothing that the boy wore compared to them. His clothes were composed of orange and yellows, seemingly made of lighter materials, compared to the blue heavy overcoats that her and her siblings dawned. Not to mention the strange blue arrow tattoos that the boy had. A deep, low toned animal noise sounded from behind the broken iceberg. This caused the younger boy to remember something as he ran off towards the sound. "Appa!"

          Celina, Sokka, and Katara all looked at each other, extremely confused as to what was going on. Walking around to the other side of the iceberg the three gasped in shocked to see the large hairy monster in front of them, licking the boy. He himself was happy, hugged the creature. Celina was amazed by the creature.

          "What is that thing?" Sokka asked.

          "This is Appa, my flying bison," the boy introduced.

          "Right. And this is Katara, my flying sister," Sokka mocked sarcastically, earning glares from both Katara and Celina.

          "He's amazing," Celina admitted out loud. The flying bison, Appa, let out a noise of thanks for her compliment, causing Celina to smile.

          "So, do you guys live around here?" the boy asked.

          Celina was going to answer when Sokka interrupted. "Don't answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy," Sokka ordered.

          "Are you kidding me?" Celina asked bluntly, not believing that her brother could be this paranoid.

          "Oh, yeah, I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by that evil look in his eye," Katara replied to Sokka sarcastically. Sokka looked over at the mystery boy as Aang just smiled at him. "The paranoid one is my brother and this is our older sister Celina. You never told us your name."

          The boy was about to answer when a sneeze came along, sending him straight up into the air. Everyone was shocked and stared at him when he landed back down. "I'm Aang," he answered like nothing happened.

          "You just sneezed…and flew ten feet in the air," Sokka stated shocked.

          "Really? It felt higher than that," Aang admitted.

          Katara gasped. "You're an airbender!" It all made sense now that Katara had said it. Celina should have guessed it earlier from the color of clothing that he was wearing.

          "Sure am," Aang confirmed.

          "Giant light beams…flying bison…airbenders…I think I've got Midnight Sun Madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense," Sokka listed exasperated.

          "Yeah, good luck with that without a boat," Celina sassed causing Sokka to stop short.

          "Well, if you guys are stuck Appa and I can give you a lift," Aang offered as he airbended himself on top of Appa's head. A large smiled painted Celina's face. She always loved animals - more so than she cared about people at times - and getting a ride on a flying bison excited her beyond belief.

          "Yes, please!" Celina replied, hurriedly climbing up into the saddle.

          "We'd love a ride!" Katara seconded.

          "Oh, no…I am not getting on that fluffy monster," Sokka protested immaturely as Katara began to climb up.

          "Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come along and give you a ride home? You know…before you freeze to death?" Katara sassed. Sokka tried to argue back but gave up getting on Appa like the rest of them. Aang took the reins as Celina, Sokka, and Katara sat in the saddle. Celina and Katara were excited while Sokka looked miserable.

          "Okay. First time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip yip!" Aang said. Appa gave out a low rumble and launched himself into the air. The aspect of flying ended when Appa landed in the water and began to swim. Aang seemed a tiny bit frustrated that Appa hadn't flown like he expected him to. "Come on, Appa. Yip yip."

          "Wow. That was truly amazing," Sokka mocked.

          "Appa's just tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see," Aang explained.

          "Yeah Sokka, wouldn't you be tired after being unfrozen?" Celina shot back at her brother. Sokka glared at her in response but Celina didn't care. Flying or not she was still enjoying her time with the flying bison.

* * *

 

          They had been traveling for a while, enough for Celina to fall asleep after a long eventful day. She was instantly sent into a strange dream, watching as Aang came out of the iceberg. He fainted but instead of Katara being there to catch him like she was that day, he fell straight into the water. Looking down into the waves Celina tried to find Aang beneath the icy waters. For a few seconds she didn't see anything but then the glowing light appeared. From beneath the water, Aang rose up to the surface and then into the sky, all from a water tornado that extended from the ocean. Both his eyes and his arrow tattoos were glowing. From up in the air the young airbender looked menacing and powerful. Celina gasped frightened as to what was going on and what Aang was going to do. Her gasping alerted Aang as he looked down at her with his glowing eyes. The glowing of his eyes expanded taking up all of Celina's vision. Celina awoke breathing heavily, frightened from her dream. It defiantly wasn't the worst dream she ever had, she wouldn't even consider it a nightmare, but it did shock her enough to wake her up. As her breathing calmed down Celina looked around, Appa was close to arriving back to the village as she saw the tents coming up in the distance. She turned over and shook Sokka's shoulder, waking him up much to his annoyance.

          "What?" he groaned. Seeing that Celina was the one waking him up Sokka instantly shot up, wondering what was wrong.

          "We're almost back to the village," Celina stated, pointing to it. Sokka looked and nodded before returning his attention back to his sister.

          "Are you okay? Was it the nightmare?" Sokka asked concerned.

          "No, no, just a dream that freaked me out a bit. Nothing to worry about," Celina assured. Sokka nodded but continued to look at Celina, making sure that she was actually okay and not just saying she was. Celina went over to Katara and woke her up. Blinking a few times Katara looked up at her oldest sibling.

          "We're almost back home," she told her.

          "Alright," Katara yawned. "I'll go wake Aang."

          "Let him sleep, he must be tired. Who knows how long he's been frozen in there," Celina told her.

* * *

 

          Arriving back to the village drew a big crowd as swimming in on a flying bison wasn't the most nonchalant thing. Everyone stared at Appa in awe as he got out of the water and walked them further inland before laying down for Celina, Sokka, Katara, and Aang to get off. Celina picked up Aang and carried him off Appa, heading towards her, Sokka, and Katara's tent.

          "Celina, what's going on?" Gran Gran asked her confused when she saw the sleeping boy in her granddaughter's arms.

          "We found him and his bison frozen in an iceberg," Celina explained.

          "Is he alright?" Gran Gran asked worried.

          "He's fine, just sleeping. I'm just gonna get him inside so that he can continue to rest," Celina answered. "We can do introductions later." Gran Gran nodded and let Celina continue on. Once inside Celina laid Aang down on a sleeping mat before heading back outside where she met up with Sokka and Katara. "You can probably wake him up in a few minutes so we can explain where he is and everything that's going on."

          "Okay," Katara nodded. Celina walked back over to Appa who was surrounded by the tribe's children, intrigued by the large creature. As soon as they saw Celina approaching they ran towards their mothers, hiding behind their coats while peering out at Appa. Celina frowned. She would never be used to that.

          Sighing she turned her attention back to Appa. "Hey there boy, I took Aang inside to rest. Thanks for the ride." Appa let out a rumble in reply causing her to smile. Celina stroked his fur, having fallen in love with this creature. It would be sad to see him go when Aang would leave. She spent more time with Appa before seeing Katara pull Aang out of the tent.

          "Aang, this is the entire village. Entire village, Aang," Katara introduced. Celina couldn't help but snicker. With the number of people still left in the Southern Water Tribe Celina barely considered it a village anymore.

          "Uh…why are they all looking at me like that?" Aang asked feeling a bit uncomfortable with all eyes on him.

          "Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct until my grandson and granddaughters found you," Gran Gran explained.

          "Extinct?" Aang questioned worried. This drew Celina's attention. How could Aang not know that all the airbenders had been wiped out? There was something up with Aang that she couldn't understand just yet. Sokka went up and grabbed Aang's staff, examining it.

          "What is this, a weapon? You can't stab anything with this," Sokka commented.

          "It's not for stabbing. It's for airbending," Aang clarified, taking it back and opening it up. The children were amazed by him. "It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly."

          "You know, last time I checked, humans can't fly," Sokka commented.

          "Check again!" Aang said. The airbender launched himself into the air and soared through the sky with his glider. Everyone was amazed except for Sokka who just looked peeved off. It was when Aang got distracted that he forgot to look where he was flying and slammed into Sokka's guard tower. Sokka ran over to his precious watch tower as Aang dislodged himself from it.

          "My watchtower!" Sokka shouted. He was examining the damage to the tower when Aang closed his glider, sending a large snow back falling onto him. "Great. You're an airbender, Katara's a waterbender, together you can just waste time all day long."

          "You're a waterbender!?" Aang asked excited.

          "Well…sort of. Not yet," Katara admitted.

          "All right. No more playing. Come on, Katara you have chores," Gran Gran interrupted.

          Celina sighed. "Looks like I have to get going Appa," she told the bison before heading over and grabbing a woven basket from her hut. Having got the basket Celina walked out of the village and walked along the coastline, wanting to get far away from the village as possible.

* * *

 

          Celina set the basket down as soon as she decided that she was far enough from the village. Staring out at the icy ocean she took a deep breath to enjoy a moment alone and away from the judging eyes that stared at her. A rustling in the snow, however, said to her that that wasn't correct. Turning around Celina smiled, seeing a familiar trio of creatures. The largest one had always reminded her of a young polar bear dog but with strange red markings around his eyes and sandy colored fur. Then there was a black fox with bright blue eyes and two tails alongside a turquoise flying bunny.

          "Hello you three, come to watch me practice?" Celina asked. The three creatures nodded happily, excited to see what Celina was going to do this time. Chuckling she turned back to the water and began. As always Celina warmed up with simple pushing and pulling of the waves, it calmed her down and helped prepare her for when she wanted to try more complicated moves. Yes, Katara wasn't the only waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe. Celina also contained the ability but decided to keep quiet about it. The whole village knew her as a freak already because of her snowy white skin and because they thought she talked to the thin air. There was no way Celina was telling them about her waterbending only for them to add it to the list of things they mocked her for. But she didn't bother thinking about those negatives things out here away from the village. Out here she was able to be herself.

          Gracefully, Celina brought her arms up, bringing a large globe of water up into the air. She separated the globe into two smaller ones and began to practice, moving the orbs of water to her will. At first, it started off very serious with practicing offensive and defensive moves before Celina's movements became more playful and transformed into something resembling dancing. The trio of creatures was mesmerized as Celina manipulated the water. Unlike Katara, Celina had much more control over her element thanks to the practice she got in. No one in the village really cared that much when Celina disappeared for a while, especially when she brought back food with her. Sometimes Celina would feel bad that she wasn't offering Katara more advice on waterbending and helping her learn but that would involve revealing that she could waterbend as well. She hoped that she made up for it by encouraging Katara to waterbend whenever she could. It put a smile on her face when Katara practiced her waterbending and succeeded, getting just as excited as Celina did when she first started practicing.

          Celina continued on for an hour until she brought the two water orbs together and froze the large globe of water that she created. Concentrating Celina moved her hands apart in a certain fashion which caused the frozen globe to explode into falling snow. It was a perfect finish to a day of waterbending practice as the trio of creatures made respective sounds of applause. Celina smiled at them while she tried to catch her breath.

          "Thanks, guys, I hoped you liked the show," Celina said walking over to them. The foxy rubbed against her legs while the flying bunny nuzzled its head against her cheek. The polar bear dog decided to lick her hand. All of their affection caused Celina to giggle. "Okay, that's enough. I still need to gather some fish to take back."

          Looking back at the empty basket Celina sighed. "I know catching fish helps me practice my waterbending but over the years it's felt more and more like a chore. Oh well, it keeps the village from asking questions and gives us something to eat. And at least I have you guys to keep me company," Celina said to herself. The trio sat down next to the water's edge as they watched Celina catch fish. Katara did have an idea earlier about who to catch fish by waterbending, though it wasn't fully fleshed out. Watching the water for any movement Celina would bend a globe of water whenever she caught sight of a fish. What she did instead of Katara was move the globe of water over the top of the basket and removed as much water from the globe as possible before freezing the fish and dropping it into the basket. It was a method that Celina had developed over the years through trial and error. It didn't take long for her to fill it up halfway, a point at which she stopped. The basket wasn't full enough to raise suspicion, nor was it too heavy for her to carry back. Ritualistically Celina took two fish from the basket and set one of them down in front of the fox and then handed the other on to the polar bear dog who took it in its mouth.

          The two happily munched on their snack while Celina dipped into her pocket. "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you," she said to the bunny. Pulling out some dried seaweed she held out her hand and let the flying bunny take it. The waterbender smiled as she watched her companions eat their treats. "Well, I best get going. Thanks for keeping me company…" She didn't get time to finish her sentence as she was interrupted by a bright flare exploding into the sky. The trio of creatures stopped eating and ran away, further inland to go and hide. Celina, on the other hand, was frozen in panic. That flare had to come from the forbidden Fire Navy ship.

          "Spirits," Celina cursed. Picking up the basket of fish Celina sprinted back to the village. The flare no doubt signaled the Fire Navy who was most likely heading straight towards the village which would only bring about disaster.


	2. The Avatar Returns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy and please leave a review.

          Celina's lungs were burning from the amount of running she had done but the village was in sight. Everyone had gathered around outside the village and she could hear Sokka shouting as she approached. "I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?" Sokka demanded. Celina paused, there was no way. She couldn't believe that Aang would do something like that, especially after what the Fire Nation had done to his people.

          "No, it has to be a mistake," she thought to herself. "He's been frozen in an iceberg for Spirits sake! He wouldn't have anything to do with the Fire Nation." She continued to make her way over towards the group and got there just in time to here Aang say that it was his fault that he and Katara were at the ship.

          "Aha! The traitor confesses!" Sokka shouted.

          "He's not a traitor," Celina argued back, slamming the basket of fish to the ground. She stood next to Aang and Katara, clearly taking sides. "He's an airbender Sokka, Aang wouldn't alert the Fire Nation after what they did."

          "Did what?" Aang questioned confused.

          But Sokka didn't let anyone answer him. "It doesn't matter if he's an airbender or not. He signaled the Fire Navy, Celina. And for that, he is banned from our village!"

          "Sokka, you're making a mistake!" Katara said angrily.

          "No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you and Celina from threats like him!" Sokka told her.

          "Aang is not our enemy!" Celina said frustrated.

          "Don't you see? Aang brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun," Katara explained.

          "Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun!" Sokka stated.

          "You should try it sometime," Aang suggested earnestly. Celina almost groaned at his response.

          "You're not helping your case, Aang," she muttered to the airbender.

          "Get out of our village. Now!" Sokka ordered.

          "Then we're banished too!" Katara shouted grabbing Aang and Celina's hand and began to drag them towards Appa, who waited several feet away from the villagers. "C'mon, guys, let's go!"

          "Uh, Katara? Where would we go?" Celina asked confused.

          "To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole and I want you to come with me. Until Aang came along you were the only one to encourage me to practice my waterbending. I want you to be there when I master it," Katara explained. Celina winced a bit. She was touched that Katara wanted her to be there for her but it didn't stop the guilt Celina had for not telling them about her own waterbending.

          "Katara! Celina! Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?" Sokka questioned. Katara paused, not knowing what to do. Celina was torn a bit as well. Would she choose Aang over her tribe? Yes, Aang would mean adventure, Aang would mean freedom from the eyes that stared at her and saw her as an outcast. But her family? She loved Sokka and Gran Gran but this was her chance to be free, they would understand that. Wouldn't they? Celina was going to move forward, towards Appa but Sokka had come up and dragged her back towards the villagers. She stared at him shocked, ignoring everything else that was going on around him. Sokka refused to meet her eyes. Celina snapped out of it when Gran Gran went over to Katara as everyone else wandered back inside the village walls.

          "Katara, you'll feel better after you –" Gran Gran tried to reassure her.

          "You happy now? There goes my one chance of becoming a waterbender!" Katara snapped and stormed off. Gran Gran turned and looked at Celina.

          "He…he was my chance. I'm never going to be able to leave this village," Celina said sadly. She took one look at Gran Gran before picking up the basket of fish and sulking back into the village, feeling defeated.

* * *

 

          Celina stood next to Katara as everyone waited. No one could seem to do anything productive except for Sokka who had prepared for battle and was on watch on top of the village walls. She looked over at her younger sister who was still mad about earlier before looking down at her hands. Celina had thought it over. With everything that had happened she believed that she should tell Katara about her waterbending. It wasn't fair that Katara would never get to learn from a real trained waterbender and decided that she would teach her as much as she could. Hopefully, Katara wouldn't hate her for keeping that from her.

          "Hey, Katara?" Celina spoke up.

          "Yes," Katara asked.

          "I…I want to tell you something…something that I've been keeping a secret for a while because I was scared that everyone would mock me even more. But I feel like you have the right to know," Celina told her nervously.

          "What is it?" Katara asked curious.

          "I'm…" But Celina didn't get to finish as the ground began to shake. The walls crumbled and the villagers started running around in a panic. In the distance, Celina saw the approaching Fire Navy ship. As the bow appeared Celina saw how much it dwarfed her brother who was still standing out front. The ice began to split as the ship came through and Celina and Katara sent out to get the children out of the way. Celina might not have liked the villagers but that didn't mean she wanted to see them hurt. Glancing up Celina saw that Sokka was still stood where he was as the ship continued straight for him. He was going to get crushed if he remained there.

          "Sokka, get out of the way!" Celina called out to him. Sokka had refused to move but luckily for him the ship had caused the wall to break, sending a wave of snow and ice that pushed him further into the village and away from the ship. As quickly as it arrived the ship stopped. Everyone stared at the ship as the bowsprit of the boat opened and unfolded down onto the ice, the hot air from inside the ship mixed with the chill air of the South Pole and created steam. As the steam cleared Fire Nation soldiers walked down.

          Celina focused on the boy leading them and the large scar taking up the majority of the left side of his face. "He looks like he's my age," she noted. Her attention was drawn to Sokka however as he foolishly ran up to the teenager, ready to attack him, only to be kicked off into the snowbank. The villagers drew back and gasped at the violence. The boy walked forward and looked over the village.

          "Where are you hiding him?" he asked. There was no response and in a flash, he had grabbed Gran Gran. "He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?"

          "Master of all elements?" Celina thought confused. "The Avatar's not here. He disappeared a hundred years ago how could the Avatar be here?" As Celina continued to think about the cogs started turning. Her eyes widened in shock. "Aang?! Aang's the Avatar?!" It made sense. Aang was the last airbender, people who were thought to be extinct, and the Avatar was an airbender. He must have been frozen in that iceberg for a hundred years. Celina was brought out of her thoughts as he threw Gran Gran back to Katara and the teenager sent a burst of fire above everyone's heads, causing the villagers to cower in fear.

          Behind him, Sokka had gotten back up and charged at him again. The boy dodged all of Sokka's attacks and flipped him over his head before sending a blast of fire at him. Celina breathed out a sigh of relief as Sokka rolled out of the way and threw his boomerang at the teen. It barely missed him and the teen turned back and glared at Sokka. One of Sokka's little warrior trainees threw him his spear and Sokka charged yet again. Celina really wished that he would stop that tactic as the Fire Nation teen dodged every time. The teenager managed to take the spear from Sokka and break it into pieces, bonking him in the head and causing him to fall to the ground. As the Fire Nation boy turned to Sokka, Sokka's boomerang came back and slammed into the back of his head. This only made the Fire Nation boy even madder as he glared at Sokka, spitting fire out of his hands and ready to attack.

          "Leave him alone!" Celina spoke out, scared for her brother. Golden eyes met blue as the two stared at each other, his eyes fierce with anger and hers swimming with fear. It seemed that he was going to switch over his attack towards her when Aang appeared riding on a penguin, throwing the prince off balance when he passed by. The kids cheered and Celina let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding.

          "Hey, Katara. Hey, Celina. Hey, Sokka," Aang greeted.

          "Hi,…Aang. Thanks for comin'," Sokka responded dryly. Turning around Aang saw that he was surrounded by the Fire Nation boy and his soldiers. When they began to close in on him Aang shot a blast of air, sending the men backward. The teenager, however, stood his ground.

          "Looking for me?" Aang asked.

          "You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" the Fire Nation teen asked, finding it hard to believe. Everyone gasped in surprise except for Celina who had already figured it out. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!"

          "Well, you're just a teenager," Aang shot back. Celina chuckled, finding Aang comment funny, but that quickly seized as said teenager sent a blast out towards Aang. The airbender twirled his staff to dissipate the blast but some of the remaining fire reached towards the villagers. Celina pulled a child out of the way of the flames, shielding them.

          Aang, seeing the terror the village was under stopped and looked back at the Fire Nation boy. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" Aang asked. Celina's eyes widened. Aang was just giving himself up? He couldn't, if the Fire Lord got hold of him then there was no hope left of ending the war. But the Fire Nation boy agreed and soon soldiers were leading Aang up onto the ship.

          "Aang, no, please," Celina begged him.

          "Don't do this," Katara pleaded.

          "Don't worry it'll be okay. Take care of Appa for me until I get back," Aang tried to reassure the girls as the ship's bowsprit rose back up. Except Celina knew that wasn't going to be the case. Nothing would be okay and the Fire Nation would never let Aang come back. They would keep him in their prisons or kill him like they did with all the other airbenders and then the war, the killing and destruction, would only continue until the Fire Nation took over the world.

          "No," Celina muttered to herself. She couldn't let that happen, she was tired of the war and she finally found someone who could end it. Celina needed to save Aang, but she would need some help in doing so. Katara and Sokka stared after Celina confused as she ran out into the tundra with a determined look on her face.

* * *

 

          Celina couldn't understand how she hadn't stumbled upon a gigantic furry bison in the open artic. She had been wandering around for a while, calling out for Appa, hoping that he would respond. Letting out a groan of frustration she looked all around her and let out a shriek when her polar bear dog friend appeared in front of her.

          "Sorry, you scared me there," Celina apologized. The polar bear dog responded by grabbing the hem of Celina's coat sleeve in its mouth and began to drag her over towards an iceberg. "I can't play with you at the moment. I'm trying to find someone." She tried to pull her sleeve but the polar bear dog had a great hold on her and continued to pull Celina towards the iceberg. When they arrived over there Celina gasped at what she saw and then smiled.

          "Appa!" she called out excited. The bison let out a welcoming rumble when he noticed Celina. She went to turn and thank her polar bear dog friend only to find that they had already left. Shrugging it off, she turned her attention back to Appa, running up to the flying bison and gave him a quick hug. "Aang's in trouble boy and we're going to save him. We just need to pick up some people along the way." Appa let out another rumble and Celina hopped on, sitting on top of Appa's head where Aang would sit, as they began to head towards the village.

          The two made it back to see Katara, Sokka, and Gran Gran standing next to a canoe. "There's no way we're gonna catch a warship with a canoe," Katara noted.

          "Hey, guys!" Celina shouted. "Need a ride?" A large grin spread across Katara's face as she ran up to her and the bison.

          "So I see you plan on leaving as well," Gran Gran stated as she and Sokka walked up to Celina as well.

          Celina nodded. "I've never felt like I've belonged here. Aang's my chance at freedom, he's the world's chance at freedom," she explained. "I'm tired of this war Gran Gran, so I'm gonna help him stop it."

          "My brave girl," Gran Gran cooed. "I've always had a feeling that you were special and I am sure this is the reason why. Your destiny has been intertwined with Aang's just like it has with your brother and sister. Look after each other."

          "Will do, Gran Gran," Celina smiled down at her. Sokka and Katara in the meantime had loaded Appa's saddle with their supplies and were ready to go.

          "You ready, Celina?" Katara asked.

          "Yeah," Celina answered before talking to the flying bison. "Alright, Appa, let's go find Aang. Yip Yip!" The large creature grumbled before flapping his massive tail and with a mighty heave took off into the sky.

* * *

 

          It didn't take them long until Appa caught up with the Fire Nation ship. Just in time too as they arrived to see the Fire Nation boy attacking Aang on the deck. He had just used his staff to block a blast of fire when he ended up on the edge of the ship. The Fire Nation teen sent more fireballs towards the airbender, knocking him overboard and into the water.

          "Aang! No!" Katara cried out in hysterics. The young girl kept calling after him as Celina and Sokka waited nervously to see what would happen. A familiar glow appeared in the water and soon Aang shot up, a tornado of water propelling him up as his eyes and arrow tattoos glowed. Celina gasped, it was just like what happened in her dream but instead of Aang glaring at her the boy's eyes turned towards the ship. Landing on the ship Aang took the water and bent it towards the Fire Nation boy and his men, knocking them overboard.

          "Did you see what he just did?" Katara asked amazed.

          "Now that was some waterbending!" Sokka exclaimed impressed. Katara and Celina shot him a glare. Celina hurriedly landed Appa on the deck of the ship after Aang fell to his knees. Katara was the first to run towards him with Sokka and Celina following after her. Celina stayed alert, watching out for Fire Nation soldiers.

          "Aang, are you okay?" Katara asked worried as she held the boy in her arms.

          "Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Hey, Celina. Thanks for coming," Aang thanked them tiredly.

          "Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory," Sokka admitted.

          "Let's get you out of here," Celina said.

          "I dropped my staff," Aang told them.

          "Got it!" Sokka volunteered. As he ran to pick up the staff the Fire Nation boy grabbed in from the other end. In a great moment of karma Sokka bumped the teens head like he had his earlier, sending him falling back towards the water below. "Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!" The guards who had been washed away by Aang earlier had managed to make their way back up onto the ship and were now preparing to attack. Katara picked up a stream of water and tried to water wipe them but it backfired and instead froze Sokka's feet to the deck.

          "Katara!" Sokka yelled annoyed as he started to chip away at the ice with his boomerang.

          "Get Aang to Appa, I'll take care of them," Celina told Katara.

          "But…" Katara tried to protest.

          "Go!" Celina ordered. Katara stalled at first, surprised by Celina ordering her to do something, but nodded and headed up onto Appa with Aang. Celina herself turned her attention towards the guards who had moved towards her. Taking a deep breath Celina unfroze the water that Katara had frozen on deck and gathered it up. Swiftly she bent it towards the soldiers and quickly turned the water into ice, freezing the soldiers in place. Katara and Sokka stared at her in shock.

          "Hurry up, Sokka," Celina said. Noticing that her brother wasn't moving she grabbed her hand and ran towards Appa. Running up his tail Celina dropped Sokka off in the saddle with Katara and Aang as she continued on towards the reins, grabbing hold of them. "Yip yip!"

          Appa took off, gaining more and more altitude but the Fire Nation teenager and an older gentleman who had just appears launched a joined fireball towards them. Aang got up and sent a gale of air towards the fireball with his staff, sending it towards a cliff. The fireball exploded on impact, causing a huge amount of ice and snow to fall onto the ship below. Celina let out a sigh of relief as they fell away.

          They had flown a good amount away before someone spoke. "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" Katara asked Aang.

          "Because…I never wanted to be," Aang admitted.

          "But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and put an end to this war," Katara said.

          "He probably didn't know, Katara," Celina pointed out. "He was frozen in that iceberg for a hundred years." Their attention turned to Celina once she spoke up, reminding Katara and Sokka about the waterbending she had done back on the ship.

          "Okay, so that's his excuse, what's yours? Why didn't you tell us that you could waterbend?" Sokka questioned.

          "I was just taking your advice and keeping my weirdness to myself," Celina shot back, referring to what he said to Katara the other day. This quickly shut him up and made him feel bad. Celina sighed, feeling a bit guilty. "Sorry…I didn't mean to snap. It's just that…well, I didn't want to add another thing people mocked me for. So I kept it a secret."

          "Is that what you were going to tell me earlier at the village? That you were a waterbender?" Katara asked.

          "Yeah. After Sokka banished Aang I thought that it wasn't fair that you would never get a chance to properly learn waterbending. I was going to tell you and offer to help you learn. I hope you forgive me," Celina explained. Katara didn't answer her at first and Celina could clearly see the hurt in her eyes. What surprised her was when Katara hugged her.

          "Of course I forgive you. Sure I'm hurt you didn't tell us but you're our sister. I'll always forgive you," Katara reassured her. Celina smiled into her shoulder, looking behind Katara Sokka gave her a smile, showing that he forgave her. Giving Katara a good squeeze she let go. "Promise to teach me some waterbending moves?"

          Celina laughed. "I'll try my best. You too Aang, I'll try my best to teach you some waterbending though I still suggest we find a waterbending master."

          "We can go to the North Pole and learn together," Aang smiled at Celina and Katara. "And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way."

          "I'd like that," Sokka admitted.

          "All right, but before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to," Aang said excited. Pulling out a map he pointed to several different places. "Here we'll ride the hopping llamas. The way over here we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun."

          A large smile spread across Celina's face. "Sounds like a perfect adventure."


	3. The Southern Air Temple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy and please leave a review.

          The sun was rising over the lake as Celina helped Katara load their supplies back onto Appa along with some of the food that she had gathered. Celina had been the first one to wake up thanks to her insomnia and had gone out to gather supplies. They were early on in their journey but she didn't know when they'd be able to stop and restock so she thought that it was better to be prepared. Sokka was still in his sleeping bag while Aang was sat up at Appa's reins chatting excitedly to the girls.

          "Wait til' you see it. The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world," Aang expressed to them. Katara looked back to Celina, nervousness apparent on her face.

          "Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home," Katara told him.

          "That's why I'm so excited!" Aang grinned.

          "A lot can change in all that time," Celina warned him.

          "I know, but I need to see it for myself," Aang explained. Katara shot Celina another nervous look. It was understandable; no one seemed to know how to tell Aang what really had happened to his people but they had to do it eventually. Aang had jumped down from Appa and walked over to the still sleeping Sokka.

          "Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple, here we come!" Aang said excited.

          "Sleep now…temple later…," Sokka groaned groggy, refusing to move from his comfortable position. Aang was clearly unpleased by Sokka's response and Celina couldn't help but sigh herself. Her brother never got up on time…well unless she told him.

          "Sokka, it's time to get up!" Celina called out from on top of Appa. The water tribe boy let out another groan but sat up.

          He looked up at Celina. "You okay? Sleep well?" he asked her.

          "Just a bit insomnia," Celina answered. Sokka nodded. Katara looked at her siblings confused while Aang bounced eagerly having not noticed the interaction between Celina and Sokka.

          "Great! Let's go," Aang said happily. Sokka sighed, clearly wanting more sleep but accepted to what was going on. Celina helped her brother up on to Appa after he packed up his sleeping bag. Aang hoped back onto Appa's head and soon they took off.

          They group had been flying for a little while. Celina watched as clouds passed by, still amazed that they were flying. It was calming. Or it was until Sokka's stomach growled, breaking the silence. Celina looked over to see Sokka searching through one of the food bags. He had opened one up and went to dump the contents of the bag into his hand, only to have nothing come out.

          "Hey! Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?" Sokka asked annoyed.

          "Oh, that was food? I used it to start the campfire last night. Sorry," Aang apologized, answering Sokka's question.

          "You WHAT?! Awww, no wonder the flames smelled so good," Sokka somewhat mourned over his treats. Celina grabbed hold of another one of their food bags and threw it over to him.

          "Here. It's just some nuts I collected this morning but it should hold you over for a while," Celina told him. Sokka opened the bag of nuts and looked at them a little disappointed that it wasn't the meat he wanted but accepted the food from her anyway. It was moments like this that reminded Celina that she was the oldest. The war had forced the Water Tribe siblings to grow up faster than they should have but things like Sokka complaining about being hungry reminded her that they were still kids. Well, Sokka and Katara were. Celina had been sixteen for a while now, marrying age. She almost scoffed at the thought. Her getting married? Never.

          "The Batola mountain range! We're almost there!" Aang announced excited, bringing Celina out of her thoughts.

          "Katara, now may be a good time to tell him," Celina whispered to her sister. Katara paused, before turning to the airbender nervous.

          "Aang, before we get to the temple I want to talk to you about the airbenders," Katara said to him uneasy.

          "What about 'em?" Aang asked.

          "Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed our mother and they could have done the same to your people," Katara tried to explain to him.

          "Just because no one has seen an airbender doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped," Aang told her optimistic.

          "I know it's hard to accept," Katara went to console him.

          "You don't understand, Katara. The only way to get to an airbender temple is on a flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison," Aang tried to tell her. Celina and Sokka looked up towards the airbender.

          "He must be in denial," Sokka said to Celina.

          "I don't know. He really seemed to believe what he's saying," Celina responded. "It's not going to be good when he finds out." Appa flew them up higher and higher, quickly turning around a mountain. Celina, Sokka, and Katara hung tightly to the saddle, straining against the wind. As they flew over some tree tops the Southern Air Temple was revealed. Everyone gasped at the spiraled buildings sat into the mountain. It was truly a beautiful sight.

          "There it is…the Southern Air Temple," Aang told them.

          "Aang, it's amazing," Katara said, expressing what the others thought.

          "We're home, buddy. We're home," Aang said fondly to Appa.

* * *

 

          Once there Appa landed on a platform, dropping the four of them off to head up the curving path. Aang was racing ahead of them, ecstatic to be back home and was hyped to show the Water Tribe siblings were he grew up. Celina tried to take in all the sights, amazed that she was one of the first outsiders to visit an airbender temple, and a beautiful one at that. Aang waited for them up ahead at the edge of the path.

          "So that's were my friends and I would play airball!" Aang explained pointing towards a thicket of densely packed sticks stuck in the ground of varying heights. Goals were set at either end of the field. "And over there would be where the bison would sleep…and…."

          Aang's voiced trailed off and he sighed. "What's wrong?" Katara asked, noticing the change in the young airbender.

          "This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds," Aang answered sadly. "I can't believe how much things have changed." Celina, Sokka, and Katara looked at each other, worried about Aang.

          "So, uh, this airball game? How do you play?" Sokka asked changing the subject. Aang smiled.

          Celina and Katara watched as Sokka and Aang stood upon the varying sticks getting ready to play. Sokka seemed confident but Celina and Katara knew that Aang was going to kick his butt. The game began as Aang used his bending to rapidly spin a ball before throwing it up into the air. Sokka tried to keep his eyes on the ball but Aang was quick and as soon as the ball came back down he sent it bouncing through the field with his airbending. It caught Sokka in the stomach, sending him flying through the goal and landing on the ground. Celina and Katara cheered for Aang scoring.

          "Aang seven, Sokka zero!" he laughed. Celina walked over to Sokka and helped him up to his feet.

          "Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt," he complained to her causing Celina to giggle.

          "You tried your best but you did challenge an airbender to a game of airball. Your loss was inevitable," Celina smiled. Sokka nodded, understanding her point before something caught his eye. His focus caught Celina's attention as she looked over to what he saw. Her brows furrowed when she saw a Fire Nation soldier helmet lying on the ground.

          "Katara, check this out," he called out to her. Their sister jogged over to them and saw the helmet that they wanted her to see.

          "Fire Nation," she noted.

          "We need to tell him," Celina said.

          Katara nodded. "Aang, there's something you need to see," she called out to him.

          "Okay!" he responded happily and began to make his way over. As Aang was making his way over to them Celina noticed Katara looked back and forth between Aang and the helmet before waterbending snow down onto the helmet and Sokka.

          "What is it?" Aang asked.

          "Just a new waterbending move Celina showed me," Katara made up.

          "Nice one. But enough practicing. We have a whole temple to see!" Aang congratulated and then walked off further into the temple. Celina bended the snow off of Sokka before looking back at Katara, disappointed by her actions.

          "You know, you can't protect him forever," Sokka pointed out. Katara brushed passed them, avoiding the subject and trying to catch up with Aang. Sokka and Celina shared a knowing look before moving towards the Air Temple entrance and Katara. "Katara, firebenders were here. You can't pretend they weren't.

          "I can for Aang's sake," Katara responded. "If he finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home, he'll be devastated."

          "He's going to find out eventually, Katara. Would you rather him find out by himself or from a friend?" Celina asked her. Celina saw Katara think about what she had said; troubled by what she had to do. They were brought out of their thoughts as Aang called them over to a statue of an airbender monk.

          "I want you to meet somebody," Aang said to them.

          "Who's that?" Sokka asked.

          "Monk Gyatso," Aang explained. "The greatest airbender in the world. He taught me everything I know." Aang bowed at the statue, wanting to be respectful towards his old master even in statue form.

          "You must miss him," Celina noticed.

          "Yeah," Aang answered and moved forwards into the temple, walking up its steps.

          "Where are you going?" Katara asked.

          "The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet," Aang replied causing the siblings to look at each other confused. The three of them followed Aang towards a large intricate wooden door. Three air symbols were arranged in a triangle, attached by tubes.

          "But Aang…no one could have survived in there for a hundred years," Katara tried to reason with him.

          "It's not impossible. I survived in the iceberg for that long," Aang pointed out.

          "That was a special occasion," Celina responded.

          "But guys, whoever's in there might help me figure out this Avatar thing!" Aang tried to explain to them.

          "And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious cured meats!" Sokka said eagerly and clearly still hungry.

          "What happened to those nuts I gave you?" Celina questioned crossing her arms across her chest.

          "Sorry, Celina, but nuts can't help my growing warrior body like meat can," Sokka replied before turning towards the door. He rushed forwards and ended up hitting it with a thud. Sokka strained to open the door to no avail before turning back to Aang. "I don't suppose you have a key?"

          "The key, Sokka, is airbending," Aang smiled.

          Celina, Sokka, and Katara stood aside as they watched Aang prepare to open the door. He took a deep composing breath and raised both of his arms. He pushed his arms forward airbending two jets of air, one from each arm, into the tubes. As the air filled the tubes that air symbols turned around one by one, unlocking the door. The door opened revealing the dark interior of the Air Temple Sanctuary.

          "Hello? Anyone home?" Aang asked, calling into the room. Celina watched as Aang walked into the room with Sokka and Katara following behind him. Celina stood outside, a feeling of uneasiness settling in before decided to enter the room. In the sanctuary Celina gasped seeing the many statues that not only covered the floor but spiraled around the walls. Sokka, Katara, and Aang walked further into the room while Celina stalled. The uneasiness increased as she felt as if all the eyes were on her.

          "Who are all these people?" Katara asked.

          "I'm not sure but it feels like I know them somehow," Aang admitted.

          "That's probably because you do. These must be all your past lives, Aang," Celina said a bit on edge. It was the only explanation she could think of. The statues were of people from all the different nations and had a powerful presence to them.

          "Of course! It's the avatar cycle," Katara agreed.

          "Wow! There's so many!" Aang looked around amazed.

          "Past lives?" Sokka asked walking over to Celina causing her to jump. "Celina, you really believe in that stuff?"

          "It's true. When the Avatar dies he's reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle. When Aang dies he's going to be reborn into a waterbender," Celina told him. "You really should have paid more attention to Gran Gran's stories."

          "Aang, snap out of it!" Katara cried out, drawing Celina and Sokka's attention. They ran over to Katara and Aang who was stood in front of the statue of a firebender.

          "Huh?" Aang asked dazed.

          "Who is that?" Katara asked.

          "That's Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me," Aang told them. Celina looked up at the statue. There wasn't as much uneasiness around this statue compared to the others but she still remained uncomfortable.

          "You were a firebender? No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met," Sokka said.

          "Yeah, that's the reason. It's not like you were paranoid or anything," Celina sassed him. Sokka shot his sister a glare.

          "There's no writing," Katara noticed. "How do you know his name?"

          "I'm not sure…I just know it somehow," Aang answered.

          "You just couldn't get any weirder," Sokka growled out in frustration. Footsteps coming from behind them sent the group hiding behind several statues, trying to remain silent. Sokka brought out his club, preparing for a fight. A shadow creeped further and further towards them and once it got to a certain point Sokka jumped out to attack. Celina, Katara, and Aang also jumped out only to see a lemur standing in front of them with wide eyes.

          "Lemur!" Aang shouted excited.

          "Dinner…" Sokka drooled.

          "Don't listen to him! You're going to be my new pet," Aang said to the animal.

          "Not if I get him first," Sokka said. Both of the boys lunged towards the lemur, causing him to dart out of the temple. Aang and Sokka chased after it.

          "Boys, leave the lemur alone," Celina tried to call out to them. Celina frowned before following them out making sure they didn't hurt the poor thing, it was scared enough as it is. Plus it meant getting away from the statues and their ever staring eyes.

* * *

 

          Traversing through the temple was hard as Celina tried to find Sokka and Aang and try to save the lemur they were chasing. The Air Temple was a big place and it was only after a good while of walking that Celina located the grotto that they were in. She gasped when she walked in and saw that Aang was glowing like he had during their fight on the Fire Nation ship, only this time he looked angrier. Celina ran over to pull Sokka out of the way as harsh winds started to form around the airbender, sending him floating above the ground within a whirlwind. She pulled him behind some rubble and looked over him to see if he had any injuries.

          "Are you hurt?" Celina asked him worried.

          "No, I think you pulled me out of there just in time," Sokka answered. They looked back at the airbender. The whirlwind surrounding him was getting worse, causing more damage to their surroundings then there had been. Katara ran up to her siblings and looked out at Aang.

          "What happened?" she asked them.

          "He found out firebenders killed Gyatso," Sokka explained to his sisters.

          "It must have triggered his Avatar spirit," Celina said referring to the blue glow.

          "I'm gonna try and calm him down," Katara told them before getting out from behind the rubble and moving towards Aang.

          "Well, do it before he blows us off the mountain!" Sokka called out. As Katara got closer the winds got harsher, picking up some debris and throwing it towards the young girl.

          "Katara!" Celina shouted out and then ran towards her sister. She swiftly grabbed Katara and pulled her back behind the wall of rubble. The wind speeds picked up, causing the Water Tribe siblings to cling to the wall so they wouldn't be blown away.

          "Aang," Katara called out to him. "I know you're upset and I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. I went through the same thing when I lost my mom. Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Celina, Sokka, and I, we're you family now." After hearing what Katara had to say the winds slowed and Aang began to descend. As his feet touched the ground the wind died away completely. Aang was still glowing but Celina, Sokka, and Katara felt it was safe enough for them to walk up to him.

          "We aren't going to let anything happen to you," Sokka said gently.

          "Promise," Celina assured. The glowing faded and Aang collapsed from exhaustion. Katara caught him before he could hurt himself and lowered Aang to the floor.

          "I'm sorry," Aang apologized tired.

          "It's okay. It wasn't your fault," Katara assured him.

          "But you were right. If the firebenders found this temple that means they found the other ones, too. I really am the last airbender," Aang mourned. The sadness in the atmosphere was overwhelming. Celina got on her knees and embraced the poor airbender in a hug. The others joined in, embracing one another for a while.

* * *

 

          Celina waited outside the Air Temple Sanctuary as Aang and Katara went to go see the statue of Roku again before they left. She didn't want to feel their eyes staring at her again. As Celina waited for them to exit the Sanctuary the lemur from beforehand walked up to her curious.

          "Hello there, little guy. I hope the boys didn't scare you that much," Celina smiled at the lemur and bended down. She held out her hand for the lemur to smell which he slowly did. After a good sniff the lemur climbed up her arm and onto her shoulder, nuzzling against her face. Celina giggled at the affection she was receiving. "You sure are cute." The lemur looked inside the Sanctuary and spotted Sokka hanging around. This caused the lemur to scurry off but Celina saw it return moments later carrying fruit in its arms. Celina watched entertained as the lemur walked up to Sokka and drop the fruit at his feet. Her brother stared at the fruit before shoving it into his mouth hungrily.

          "Looks like you made a new friend, Sokka," Celina said.

          "Can't talk. Must eat," Sokka replied with his mouth full. Celina rolled her eyes and saw the lemur run up Aang only to perch on top of his head.

          "Hey, little guy," Aang greeted. Sokka, Aang, and Katara left the Air Temple Sanctuary and the group began to head back to Appa.

          Once they got there Aang looked back at the abandoned air temple. "You, me, and Appa. We're all that's left of this place. We have to stick together." Aang turned around to address Celina, Katara, and Sokka who still cared the fruit from earlier. "Guys, say hello to the newest member of our family." Celina smiled hearing Aang call them a family. She found the statement to be true as she had begun to look at Aang as a little brother a while ago.

          "What are you going to name him?" Katara asked. Seeing Sokka carrying all the fruit the lemur leaped off Aang and stole the peach that Sokka was about to eat. The lemur hurried up onto Celina's shoulder as it began to munch on the stolen peach.

          "How 'bout Momo?" Celina offered up.

          "Sounds perfect," Aang laughed. Celina, Katara, and Aang laughed at Sokka as he went to eat the peach that was no longer in his hand. After they got the giggles out the group boarded Appa and took off. Celina caught Aang take one last sad look back at the Air Temple before clouds blocked off his view. She sent a sympathetic smile his way before looking out at the twilight fallen sky wondering where they would end up next.


	4. The Warriors of Kyoshi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy and please leave a review.

          "You have no idea where you're going do you?" Sokka asked exasperated as him and Celina looked at their map.

          "Welllll, I know it's near water…" Aang answered. Celina shot him a look; they had been surrounded by water for a while now.

          "I guess we're getting close then," Sokka said flatly. Rolling her eyes Celina turned her attention away from the map and made her way over to her sister who was currently sewing up Sokka's pants. A look of concentration was on her face, trying to get her stitching correct.

          "Hey, Katara! Check out this airbending trick!" Aang called out to the waterbender eagerly. Celina looked behind her to see Aang suspend a marble between his hands, making them whirl around in the air. Celina gave him a sympathetic smile, it wasn't the greatest trick she's ever seen but she didn't want to discourage the young airbender.

          "That's great, Aang," Katara said absentmindedly, not bothering to look over her shoulder to see the trick.

          "You didn't even look," Aang whined a bit.

          "It was a neat trick, Aang," Celina told him. Aang gave her a smile but still appeared dejected. It was clear that he was trying to impress Katara.

          "Stop bugging her, airhead. You need to give girls space when they do their sewing," Sokka told him. Celina and Katara turned to their brother annoyed, so much so that Katara had stopped her sewing.

          "What does being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara questioned.

          "Simple: girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things," Sokka answered. Celina glowered at him for his sexist response.

          "All done with your pants! And look what a great job I did!" Katara exaggerated before throwing them at Sokka, hitting him right in the head.

          "Wait! I was just kidding! I can't wear these!" Sokka backtracked and displayed how the hole was still very present. He turned to Celina looking desperate and went into a bit of begging. "Celina, please!"

          "No way, Sokka, not after what you just pulled," Celina told him.

          "But, Celina, you got to admit that it's true," Sokka tried to argue.

          "Yeah because it wasn't like I fought off those men on Zuko's ship or how I was the one who was always bringing back fish for the village," Celina replied pissed off. "You lost this fight, Sokka, and if you keep it up then you're going to lose more in the future."

          Sokka went to respond but was cut off as Appa swooped out of the sky and landed on the beach of a crescent-shaped island. When they landed Celina slid out of the saddle and onto the ground. "We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?" Sokka pointed out.

          "He's right. At this rate, we won't get to the North Pole until spring," Katara admitted.

          "But Appa's tried already, aren't you boy?" Aang cued the bison, wanting him to go along. There was silence as Aang tried cuing him again. "I said, aren't you boy?"

          Appa yawned but everyone could see right through it. "Yeah, that was real convincing," Sokka called out.

          "Still, you can't argue with something so cute," Celina added, hugging Appa. The giant bison grumbled in thanks as he nuzzled into the hug causing Celina to giggle.

          "Look!" Aang gasped pointing out towards the water. Everyone was surprised to see a giant koi fish jumping out of the water. Aang hurriedly began to strip down before heading towards the water. "That's why we're here, elephant koi. And I'm going to ride it. Katara, you've gotta watch me!"

          The Water Tribe siblings looked at one another wryly as Aang got into the water. Sokka mimed that Aang was crazy for doing this, causing Celina to elbow him into the ribs. They looked back to see the elephant koi jumping out of the water again but this time with Aang riding on its back. Everyone was excited by the show that he was putting on. Aang was having the time of his life as he waved at them, though Celina noticed that he was looking at Katara specifically.

          "He looks pretty good out there doesn't he," Celina mentioned to Katara.

          "Are you kidding? The fish is doing all the work," Sokka said. Celina glared at Sokka, he wasn't anywhere near close to her forgiving him.

          "No, Appa! Don't eat that!" Katara exclaimed suddenly as she ran off to take care of the flying bison. Turning back Celina squinted, seeing a dark shadow that appeared in the water. She gasped when she saw that two of the koi that Aang was swimming with disappeared. The shadow continued to follow the last remaining elephant koi that Aang was riding on.

          "There's something in the water!" Celina yelled. Upon hearing her sister's cry Katara came rushing back to the beach.

          "What's wrong?" she asked worried.

          "Aang's in trouble," Sokka explained.

          "Aang! Get out of there!" Katara called out to him. Aang mistook his friends' warning however as he smiled happily at them. The koi fish that he was riding bucked him off into the bay. Celina was quick to move when she saw the large shadow move towards Aang. Using the water to her advantage she bended her way towards Aang, grabbed him and then bended them back towards shore. The fin of the creature appeared only to disappear once they made it back to the shore.

          "You okay?" she asked him, breathing heavily. Aang nodded and then went off to put his clothes back on. After taking a minute to herself Celina got up and bended the excess water off herself.

          "What was that thing?" Katara asked.

          "I don't know," Aang answered.

          "Well, let's not stick around to find out. Time to hit the road," Sokka said. They barely had any time to move as five warriors jumped them. Before Celina had time to react she received a blow to the head and blacked out.

* * *

 

          Groaning Celina opened her eyes to find that she was blindfolded and bound to something wooden. "You have some explaining to do," she heard an older man say.

          "And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the unagi," added in a feminine voice.

          "Show yourselves, cowards!" Sokka shouted. The blindfold was suddenly removed, revealing the warriors from before standing in front of them with an older man. "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?"

          "There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?" one of the warriors stepped forward and asked. Celina assumed that she must be the head of the other warriors.

          "Wait a second, there's no way that a bunch of girls took us down," Sokka laughed in disbelief. Celina turned towards her brother as best as he could and glared at him.

          "Are you seriously still going on about girls being weak?! After everything that's happened today alone you still believe that. Spirits! I was the one who saved Aang from the sea monster and they were the ones who captured us. We are not weak, Sokka. You need to get that through your thick head." Celina yelled. Sokka stared at her, shocked. The warrior who had stepped forward looked at Celina with a mix of respect and sympathy.

          "I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi," Aang apologized, hoping to move away from the argument.

          "How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far and we intend to keep it that way!" the old man accused Aang.

          "This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" Aang smiled excited.

          "Ha!" the old man laughed. "How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries."

          "I know here because I'm the Avatar," Aang told them. The group in front of them looked at Aang in shock and disbelief.

          "That's impossible! The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago," the head warrior said.

          "That's me!" Aang responded, grinning widely.

          "Throw the imposter to the unagi!" the old man ordered. The warriors got into a fighting stance and opened up their fans.

          "Aang, do some airbending," Katara instructed as they moved closer to them. Before the warriors could touch them Aang broke out of his bonds and shot up into the air. He flipped over the top of the Kyoshi statue. The crowd was amazed as he floated gracefully to the ground.

          "It's true, you're the Avatar!" the old man gasped at him.

          "Now, check this out!" Aang said, pulling out his marble from before. Celina watched as Aang performed the same trick from before causing the villagers to jump in joy. She wanted to facepalm when one of the villagers screamed like a girl and started foaming at the mouth.

* * *

 

          The villagers of Kyoshi had been really welcoming after Aang revealed that he was the Avatar. Celina sat in front of a long wooden table with Katara and Aang, staring at the different plates of food that covered the table.

          "All right! Dessert for breakfast!" Aang said before stuffing his face. "These people sure know how to treat an Avatar!" Celina looked over the food, a lot of them hadn't reached the Southern Water Tribe. Choosing one at random Celina brought it to her lips and took a bite. She let out a moan of pleasure as the sweet dish dissolved in her mouth. The Southern Water Tribe defiantly didn't have anything like that. The majority of the flavors back home were salty, briny, and fishy. Sweet wasn't really a thing back at home.

          "Mmm, Katara you've got to try these," she told her sister.

          "Well, maybe just a bite," Katara said and then took one for herself.

          "Sokka, what's your problem? EAT!" Aang asked. Celina stole a glance at her brother sitting disgruntled in the corner before going back to ignoring him. She had yet to talk to him since they had been released.

          "He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday," Katara mentioned.

          "They snuck up on me!" Sokka tried to defend himself.

          "Right. And then they kicked your butt," Katara responded smugly.

          "Sneak attacks don't count! Tie me up with ropes! I'll show them a thing or two. I'm not scared of any girls," Sokka exploded angrily and then looked over to Celina. She refused to meet his gaze and Sokka's mood couldn't help but fall even more. He paused for a minute before continuing on with his rant, heading out. "Who do they think they are anyway?"

          "What's he so angry about? It's great here. They're giving us the royal treatment," Aang questioned.

          "Hey, don't get too comfortable. It's risky for us to stay in one place for too long," Celina told him.

          "I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town? They're even cleaning up that statue in my honor!" Aang tried to reassure her.

          "Well, it's nice to see you excited about being the Avatar. I just hope it doesn't all go to your head," Katara hoped.

          "Come on, you know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk," Aang told her. Celina could sense that wasn't going to hold up but just continued eating breakfast, it would have to be a lesson that Aang learned for himself.

* * *

 

          After breakfast, Celina and Katara went into town to gather supplies. The villagers were being kind enough to let them take what they needed without having to pay for anything. They were currently stopped at a vegetable stand when Aang walked up to them. They hadn't seen the airbender since breakfast and from the hoard of girls she could see standing in the distance Celina could guess where he'd been.

          "Oh, good! Can you help carry this back to the room? It's a little heavy," Katara asked him.

          "Actually, I can't right now," Aang said.

          "What do you mean you can't?" Katara asked, irritation present in her voice.

          "I promised the girls that I'd give them a ride on Appa. Why don't you come with us? It'll be fun!" Aang told her. Celina noticed her sister roll her eyes and continue on picking vegetables.

          "Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does not sound like fun," Katara told him.

          "Well, neither does carrying your basket," Aang shot back at her.

          "Aang, these are supplies for our trip. I told you, we're going to have to leave Kyoshi soon," Celina reminded, trying to break up the beginning of a fight.

          "I don't want to leave Kyoshi yet. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something I really like about this place," Aang whined.

          "Yeah, I'm sure it has nothing to do with your admiring fan club of girls," Celina pointed out, gesturing towards the group of girls waiting for him.

          "Simple monk, huh? I thought you promised that this Avatar stuff wouldn't go to your head," Katara said.

          "It didn't. You just don't want to come because you're jealous," Aang commented.

          "Jealous? Of what?" Katara challenged.

          "Jealous that we're having so much fun without you," Aang replied.

          "Alright, that's enough you two. Come on Katara, we need to get these baskets back to the room. Suki invited me to the warrior's dojo and I want to try and make it there before today ends," Celina told them. Katara nodded and quickly turned away from Aang, heading towards the room. Celina gave the airbender a farewell nod before following after Katara with their remaining baskets.

* * *

 

          After dropping off the baskets of supplies Celina made her way over to the warrior's dojo. She saw Suki and the rest of the warriors in there training elegantly with their fans. Suki was the one who spotted Celina standing in the doorway.

          "Ah, Celina. I'm happy you decided to come," Suki greeted her.

          "I'm happy you invited me," Celina replied. "It looks like you girls have been busy."

          "Yes, we've been trying to make up for lost time. Sokka decided to come over and 'teach' us some fighting moves," Suki explained.

          Celina couldn't help but close her eyes and let out a sigh of exasperation. "I'm sorry about him. My brother has been acting like an idiot more than usual lately. I'm currently giving him the silent treatment," she apologized.

          "He's your brother?" Suki asked surprised.

          "Yeah, I know it doesn't look like it but Sokka and Katara are my little siblings," Celina explained. "So why'd you invite me here?"

          "We saw you save the Avatar from the unagi before ambushing you and were impressed. That was some pretty quick thinking you did there. Who taught you?" Suki asked.

          "Nobody. Katara and I are the last waterbenders from our tribe. I'm self-taught," Celina answered.

          "That's even more impressive. We were hoping that you would like to have a sparring session," Suki offered.

          "Well…I'd need some water," Celina pointed out. Suki gestured over to the vases of water that they had lined up against the dojo's wall.

          "Already thought of that," Suki said. She and the other warriors looked at Celina with pleading eyes.

          "Alright, but let's start off one on one then work our way up to more people," Celine gave in. The girls were excited as Celina took position in the dojo, gathering water from the vases in preparation. "So who's first?"

          As Sokka walked towards the entrance of the Kyoshi Warrior's dojo for the second time that day he couldn't help but hear all the commotion that was going on inside. Looking in he was surprised to see Celina fighting against four of the Kyoshi Warriors. The amount of strength that Celina carried while waterbending against them was something that he hadn't seen before. But he had, he saw a glimpse of it when she was fighting against the Fire Nation soldiers on the ship. It was hard to imagine that the girl in there was the same girl who would come running to him in the middle of the night, crying because of her nightmares. Finally, after everything that had happened, Sokka realized that he was wrong.

          The girls stopped sparring as Sokka walked into the dojo, waiting to hear what he would say this time. "Uh…hey, girls," he said.

          "Hoping for another dance lesson?" Suki asked mockingly.

          "No…I…well, let me explain," Sokka stuttered. He glanced over at Celina who was watching him carefully. "I'm sorry for insulting you earlier. I was wrong, you all taught me that. Celina…I'm so sorry, you were right. It was just hard to see past all those times when you needed me."

          "Sokka, I still might need you at times but I'm happy you realize that I can take care of myself," Celina said to him. Sokka smiled, happy to have his sister talking to him again. He gave Celina a hug and then turned to Suki.

          "I would be honored if you would teach me," he said, kneeling down in front of her.

          Suki thought it over for a minute. "We normally don't teach outsiders, let alone boys," she told him.

          "Please make an exception. I won't let you down," Sokka asked.

          "All right. But you have to follow all of our traditions," Suki agreed. "And I mean, all of them."

* * *

 

          Celina stood on the sidelines, giggling a bit at the sight of Sokka in the Kyoshi Warrior's uniform, makeup and all. "Do I really have to wear this? Celina didn't have to when you guys were training," Sokka complained.

          "That's because they weren't teaching me. They invited me over for a sparring session," Celina told him.

          "It's a warriors uniform. You should be proud. The silk threads symbolize the brave blood that flows through our veins. The gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart," Suki explained.

          "Bravery and honor," Sokka repeated proudly. Celina sat on the sidelines and watched as Suki taught Sokka the ways that the Kyoshi Warriors fought, their fans unfurled. It had been going on for a while, so much so that the rest of the warriors had left the dojo for the day. Sokka was actively trying to better his skills.

          "You're not going to master it in one day. Even I'm not that good," Suki pointed out.

          "I think I'm starting to get it," Sokka stated, starting to lose his balance. At the end of the set that he was practicing, he accidentally threw his fan out the door and into a tree. Snow fell from the branches, covering the fan. Celina couldn't help but laugh.

          "I'm sure that tree really had it coming," she joked around.

          "It's not about strength. Our technique is about using your opponent's force against them. Loosen up. Think of the fan as an extension of your arm," Suki explained getting into a battle stance. "Wait for an opening and them…" Suki lunged at Sokka only to have him parry the thrust, knocking her to the ground. Sokka stood there, looking very proud.

          "I fell on purpose to make you feel better!" Suki said flustered.

          "I got you! Admit I got you!" Sokka laughed, pointing his finger at her. Suki took the opportunity and grabbed his hand, bending it back.

          "Okay, it was a lucky shot. Let's see if you can do it again," Suki challenged.

          "And maybe after you've gotten good enough you can try to take on me," Celina offered. Sokka nodded. Suki let go of his hand and they resumed battle positions, circling one another. Celina watched them, proud that Sokka was getting the training he needed. With the men of the village gone had hadn't really been properly trained. Sure, he had managed to work out how to use a boomerang along with some of the other tool but fighting wise he had little experience. Not that she was any better but with the amount of cockiness he carried he couldn't continue to wing it, otherwise he could get seriously injured.

          Sokka was finally able to fully parry Suki's thrusts when Oyagi, the old man from before, informed them that Fire Nation soldiers had landed on Kyoshi Island. Jumping into action Celina gathered the water from the vases once again and rushed out with Sokka and Suki, getting ready to fight. She hid behind houses, waiting for a chance to strike. Zuko and his men entered the village, riding on war rhinos.

          "Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" Zuko called out. As he and his soldiers continued down the main street of the village the Kyoshi Warriors took their chance and attacked. Celina focused her attacks on Zuko's soldiers, knowing very well that others would try and take him down. And she was right as Suki headed straight towards Zuko, only to have his rhino's tail slam into her. As she hit the ground Zuko sent a fireball in Suki's direction but Sokka was quick enough to deflect it. Zuko fell off his rhino in surprise.

          "I guess training's over," Sokka noted as he, Suki, and another warrior approached Zuko to attack. Zuko, however, knocked them down by sending out blasts of fire from his hands.

          "Nice try, Avatar! But these little girls can't save you," Zuko called out getting back up onto his feet.

          "Hey! Over here!" Aang shouted, drawing Zuko's attention. Celina caught part of their fight from the corner of her eye while she was taking care of a soldier. The soldier had been sending fire blast after fire blast at her but she managed to dodge them only to send water whips in their direction, knocking the soldier unconscious. Looking up she saw Katara usher a small child into one of the non-burning buildings. Celina ran over to Katara to make sure that she was okay.

          Aang soon landed next to them. "Look what I've brought to this place," Aang said upset.

          "It's not your fault," Katara tried to assure him.

          "Yes it is. These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me," Aang argued.

          "Then let's get out of here. Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us," Celina suggested. Katara nodded, agreeing with her.

          "I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way," Katara added.

          "I'll call Appa," Aang said, feeling defeated.

          Celina fought off any soldiers that went to attack them as Katara, Aang, and her climbed onto Appa. "Sokka come on!" she called out to her brother. Sokka hurried out from his hiding spot and ran up Appa's tail. Once all of them were on board Aang flew Appa up into the air and away from the village. Aang was clearly upset.

          "I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would have destroyed the whole place if we had stayed," Katara explained.

          "They're going to be okay, Aang," Celina told him. Suddenly, without a word Aang dived into the water below them only to resurface riding the unagi. Celina hurried to Appa's reins, taking control as she watched what Aang was going to do. He pulled back on the whiskers he was holding onto, causing the unagi to spew water over the town, putting out all the fires. With the village saved Aang jumped off the unagi, letting Appa catch him as they flew off.

          "I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous," Aang said once he climbed back into the saddle.

          "Yes, it was," Katara agreed but then hugged him.

          "So, where to next?" Celina asked. When Katara released Aang from the hug the airbender climbed up onto Appa's head and sat next to Celina. She handed him the reins.

          "Next stop, Omashu," Aang announced and began to steer Appa in the Earth Kingdom city's direction.


	5. The King of Omashu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy and please leave a review.

          "There it is, the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!" Aang said, pointing towards a walled city in the distance. Celina found the city to be amazing, it was nothing like back home in the South Pole. "I used to always come here to visit my friend, Bumi."

                    "They have buildings here that don't melt!" Sokka gaped in amazement.

          "Well, let's go, slowpokes! The real fun is inside the city!" Aang told them excited and airbended himself farther down the hill that they had landed on.

          "Wait, Aang! It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar," Katara warned him.

          "You need a disguise," Sokka stated.

          "So, what am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?" Aang asked.

          "No, but maybe we can work a little magic to get you one," Celina said heading over to Appa. Running her hands through his fur several times Celina collected enough to use as a disguise. It took some fiddling around with the fur and rope but in the end, she got the result she wanted, a disguised Aang.

          "Great! Now you look just like my grandfather," Sokka approved.

          "Technically he is 112 years old," Katara pointed out.

          "Now let's get to skippin', young whippersnappers! The big city awaits," Aang said putting on an old man voice.

          The four of them walked towards Omashu with Aang telling the water tribe siblings how great and friendly the city was. They got to see it first hand when one of the guards earthbended a cabbage merchant's cart into the air.

          "Yeah, they sure look friendly," Sokka commented sarcastically.

          "Just keep smiling," Aang told them as they approached. Celina looked over at her siblings who were clearly uneasy. Taking a deep breath Celina prepared herself for whatever was about to happen. Everyone halted as one of the guards earthbended a rock and held it over Aang's head.

          "State your business!" he ordered.

          Aang rushed out from underneath the rock, getting up into the guard's face. "My business is my business, young man, and none of yours! I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!" Aang threating in his old man voice. The guard dropped the stone in surprise. Everyone seemed frozen. Thinking fast Celina walked over to Aang and pulled him out of the guard's face.

          "Dad, don't be rude," she scowled Aang and then turned to the guard. "I'm sorry about him; my father has become testy in his old age." Katara and Sokka stood there shocked by Celina's actions but Aang was happy to see his friend playing along.

          "It's alright Miss. Just tell me who you are," the guard ordered.

          "Name's Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis, the Third," Aang answered, keeping up his old man voice.

          "This is my niece and nephew," Celina added motioning to Sokka and Katara.

          "Hi, June Pipinpadaloxicopolis," Katara greeted. "Nice to meet you."

          "Well, you seem like a responsible young woman. See that your father stays out of trouble," the guard said to Celina. "Enjoy Omashu!"

          "We will," Celina assured him. The guard motioned for them to pass, signaling for his other guardsmen to open the gates. Once inside Aang took them over to the railing to look over the city. There were many houses crowded inside the walls with chutes weaving around the buildings.

          "This is the Omashu delivery system," Aang explained. "Miles and miles of tubes and chutes. Earthbending brings the packages up and gravity brings them down."

          "Great, so they get their mail on time," Sokka said rolling his eyes.

          "They do get their mail on time, but my friend Bumi found a better use for these chutes," Aang said.

          Aang had convinced the Water Tribe siblings to jump into one of the carts to use the mail system as a slide. Well, he had to convince Celina and Sokka, Katara was on board from the beginning. But now that they were all in the cart looking down at the steep chute they were having second thoughts.

          "One ride, then we're off to the North Pole, Airbender's honor," Aang promised.

          "This sounded like fun at first, but now that I'm here, I'm starting to have second thoughts!" Katara said, expressing the rest of her siblings' thoughts. As soon as Katara finished her sentence they were off, accelerating down at an alarming speed. Celina held on tight to the cart and closed her eyes. Flying through the chutes was nothing like flying on Appa and she detested the feeling in her stomach that the slides caused. Throughout the ride, she heard much shouting from her brother and sister along with others. At one point she felt her stomach lift up into her throat and was pleased to find when the movement had stopped. Opening her eye Celina found that they had landed on a cabbage stand that they saw trying to enter Omashu earlier.

          "How…?" Celina wondered having seen the cabbage stand flung off into the valley. She dropped her confusion for worry however when the four of them were surrounded by soldiers.

          "Two cabbages please," Aang said sheepishly.

* * *

 

          The soldiers had escorted the four of them to the palace where they were brought before the king. "Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses and malicious destruction of cabbages," a guard explained.

          "Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!" the cabbage merchant exclaimed. Celina raised an eyebrow at him.

          "Silence! Only the King can pass down judgment. What is your judgement, Sire?" the guard asked. Sokka was nervous, Katara was pulling her best innocent look, Aang was trying to look like he was invisible, and Celina just waited.

          "Throw them…A feast!" the king declared. Everyone looked at him confused but accepted his decision and went to work creating the feast.

          Celina sat down at a table loaded with food. The others were still confused as to what was going on but Celina didn't question it.

          "Heheh! The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin," the king said.

          "Thanks, but I don't eat meat," Aang told him.

          "How about you?" the king asked Sokka. "I bet you like meat." Taking a drumstick he stuck the chicken in Sokka's mouth. Sokka was surprised but happily chewed on the drumstick.

          "Is it just me, or is this guy's crown a little crooked?" Katara whispered to her group.

          "Leave him alone, Katara. He's just different, that's all," Celina said coming to the king's defense. Of course, Celina would come to the king's defense; she had been different all her life and knew the effects of being made fun of. There was no way that she wanted anyone to go through that kind of torture.

          "So, tell me young bald one. Where are you from?" the king asked.

          "I'm from… Kangaroo Island," Aang lied.

          "Oh, Kangaroo Island, eh? I hear that place is really hoppin!" the king joked. Celina smiled at his joke, she had to admit that it was as bad as one of Sokka's jokes but didn't want to shot him down. Sokka laughed soon after.

          "Well, all these jokes are making me tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay," the king said and then threw a drumstick at Aang who used his airbending to catch it. The guards gasped in surprise. "There's an airbender in our presence and not just any airbender, the Avatar! Now, what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Pipinpadaloxicopolis?"

          "Okay! You caught me," Aang admitted, standing up from the table. "I'm the Avatar, doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out, no firebenders here. So good work everybody. Love each other, respect all life and don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time!" Aang grabbed his friends and tried to get them out of there. Unfortunately for the group, the guards stopped them.

          "We're in serious trouble. This guy is nuts," Sokka said.

          "Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges. But for now, the guards will show you to your chamber," the king said.

          "My liege, do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?" a guard asked.

          "The newly refurbished chamber."

          "Wait, which one are we talking about?"

          "The one that used to be the bad chamber, until the recent refurbishing that is. Of course, we've been calling it the new chamber, but we really should number them. Uh, take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!"

* * *

 

          The guards lead the group to the newly refurbished chamber. They earthbended the wall down and pushed the four of them in before earthbending them in. Celina looked around the chamber and had to admit it was nice. There were long pieces of green clothes hung from the ceiling, creating a canopy effect, along with three comfortable looking beds.

          "This is a prison cell? But it's so nice," Katara commented.

          "He did say it was newly refurbished," Aang pointed out.

          "Nice or not, we're still prisoners," Sokka said.

          "I wonder what these challenges are gonna be," Aang wondered.

          "We're not sticking around to find out. There's gotta be some way outta here," Katara said.

          "How? There's no way out of here unless it's by earthbending," Celina asked.

          "The air vents!" Aang exclaimed.

          "If you think we're gonna fit through there then you're crazier than that king," Sokka said.

          "We can't, but Momo can," Aang explained. Everyone looked over at Momo who was laid out on one of the beds licking an apple. Aang walked over and picked the lemur up. "Momo, I need you to find Appa and bust us outta here!" Aang went over to the vents and tried to shove Momo in but the animal only got in halfway.

          "Go on, boy, get Appa!" Aang tried to encourage.

          "Aang, stop trying to stuff Momo into the vent," Celina said, walking over to the two and pulled Momo out. The lemur thanked her by liking her cheek.

          "Eh, how was Appa supposed to save us anyway?" Sokka asked.

          "Appa is a ten-ton flying bison, I think he could figure something out," Aang said.

          "Well, no point in arguing about it now. Get some rest, Aang. Looks like you'll need it for tomorrow," Katara told him.

          "But there's three beds and four of us," Aang pointed out.

          "You guys take the beds," Celina offered. She stood up on one of the beds and tested the strength of the decorative clothes. She smiled, satisfied to find they were strong. "I'll just sleep up here. It'll be like a hammock." Before anyone could protest Celina hopped up onto the hanging fabric and got comfortable. "Goodnight, guys."

* * *

 

_She was back at the South Pole, out where none of the tribe had gone out of fear of getting lost. Celina was frozen in place, watching the sun sink lower and lower in the sky until it was gone. Everything was pitch black. Fear sunk in as the blackness started to move around her._

_"Hello, my dear Celina."_

* * *

 

          Celina woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. Her hand went up to her forehead before pushing back stray hairs that had come out of place in her sleep. Trying to calm her breathing Celina leaned over the fabric, hoping to talk to Sokka only to find that he wasn't there. Panic set it as she found that both Sokka and Katara were missing. She jumped off of the fabric and rushed over to Aang's bed, shaking him awake.

          "Aang! Aang! Sokka and Katara are missing!" she exclaimed.

          "What?!" The wall opened up as guards stood in the opening. Both of them looked surprised when they saw Celina next to Aang.

          "We missed one," one of the guards said astonished.

          "Where are my friends?" Aang demanded to know.

          "The King will free them if you complete your challenges," the other guard told him. The guard who spoke earlier came inside the room to grab Celina but Aang held out his staff protectively.

          "She's staying with me," he said sternly. The guards paused, thinking it over but agreed before ushering Aang and Celina out of the room. They were taken straight to the throne room where the king stood wearing a new blue, purple, and light green robe. The king looked surprised when he saw Celina with Aang.

          "How did you evade my guards?" he asked genially curious.

          "There were only three beds in the chamber so I decided to use the decorative fabric as a hammock. I'm guessing your guards only checked the beds," Celina explained.

          The king blinked twice before giving her a smile. "I like you," he told her.

          "Um… thank you," Celina replied.

          "Enough, I'm don't have time. Gimme my friends back! We're leaving!" Aang interrupted angry, having grown impatient.

          "Ohh, I thought you might refuse…" the king said and then looked over at a wall that came down because of earthbending. It revealed guards holding Sokka and Katara. They placed colored rings on their fingers which shrunk to size. Sokka and Katara struggled to try and get them off. "So I will give your friends some special souvenirs. Those delightful rings are made of pure genemite, also known as creeping crystal. It's crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall, your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible fate, really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate."

          "Ah! It's already creeping!" Sokka screeched as the rock started growing.

          "I'll do as you want," Aang submitted.

          "Mmm," the king smiled.

          "Sir, do you want us to get another ring for the other girl?" one of the guards asked.

          "Nah, she's cool," the king answered, giving Celina another smile. Celina awkwardly smiled back, not entirely sure how to react.

* * *

 

          Celina had been stuck watching Aang complete the challenges that the king had set up while simultaneously watching the creeping crystal continue to engulf her siblings' bodies. The most intense she had watched however was when Aang chose to fight the king. Turned out the old man was in excellent shape underneath the robes and was the best earthbender that they'd ever seen. There were several moments during their fight where Celina held her breath, thinking that the king had gotten Aang. But Aang had succeeded in the end and she was looking forward to getting Sokka and Katara out of their bounds.

          "You've passed all my tests. Now, you must answer one question," the king said.

          "That's not fair!" Aang shouted. "You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests."

          "Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything," the king replied.

          "Oh come on!" Sokka exclaimed.

          "Answer this one question and I will set your friends free. What… is my name? From the looks of your friends, I'd say you only have a few minutes," the king told Aang and then left them to ponder his question.

          "How am I supposed to know his name?" Aang asked the three of his friends.

          "Think about the challenges, maybe it's some kind of riddle," Katara said, offering her advice.

          "I got it! He's an earthbender, right? Rocky! You know, because of all the rocks?" Sokka said, earning silence as a response.

          "We're going to keep trying but that is a good backup," Celina told her brother.

          "Okay, so back to the challenges. I got a key from the waterfall. I saved his pet and I had a duel. Everything was different than I expected, they weren't straightforward. To solve each test, I had to think differently than I usually would," Aang thought it out.

          "Why does this remind of one of your old friends you were telling us about?" Celina muttered out loud.

          A huge smile appeared on Aang's face. "I know his name!"

* * *

 

          The group stood in front of the king who had changed back into his green robes. "I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities. Bumi, you're a mad genius!" Aang said and then ran up and hugged him.

          "Oh, Aang. It's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally," Bumi replied.

          "Well, a hundred years in an iceberg can do that to you," Celina joked around. "But now that that's done, can you free my brother and sister now?"

          Bumi pulled his fist back and earthbended the creeping crystal off of Sokka and Katara. The crystal went flying everywhere. Both Bumi and Celina managed to catch a piece.

          "Genemite is made of rock candy," Bumi explained. Celina looked down at the rock in her hand and easily took a bite out of it.

          "Delicious!" she smiled and tucked the candy in her pocket for later.

          "Why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Sokka asked.

          "First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people, hehe. But I do have a reason. Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. It's the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord, and when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius!" Bumi explained. "And it looks like you're in good hands. You'll need your friends to help defeat the Fire Nation."

          Bumi turned and smiled at the Water Tribe siblings. "Celina, I must thank you for coming to my defense. I have been used to being called strange by people but I've never had someone scold others for doing so. Especially someone I have just met. Thank you, young lady," Bumi said to her.

          "I've been called strange and weird by my entire village. I know how damaging it can be to your self-confidence and I don't want anyone to go through what I have just because they're different," Celina told him. Bumi smiled at her and gave her a hug.

          "You have so much wisdom for one so young, yet are mad enough to think outside the box. The world needs more people like us," he said to her.

          "Thanks, Bumi," Celina said, returning the hug.

          "Thank you for all your wisdom. But before we leave, I have a challenge for you," Aang said.

* * *

 

          The Water Tribe siblings stood at the beginning of the mailshot, watching as Aang and Bumi shot down them in a cart. Smiles were on all of their faces.


	6. Imprisoned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy and please leave a review.

          The group had been traveling for a while now, so much so that they had exhausted the supplies that Bumi had given them. Currently, Katara and Aang were sat on the forest floor, waiting for Celina and Sokka to return from hunting and gathering. Smiles appeared on Aang and Katara's faces when they saw them coming back.

          "Great, you're back! What's for dinner?" Aang asked.

          "We've got a few options. First round nuts and some kind of oval shaped nuts, and some rock shaped nuts that… might just be rocks. Dig in!" Sokka said, dumping the contents of his bag out. Aang and Katara looked unimpressed.

          "Seriously, what else ya got?" she asked looking over at Celina. Reaching into her own bag Celina pulled out some fruit that she had found and tossed it to Aang and Katara.

          "Hooray! Celina to the rescue!" Aang cheered and took a bite out of the fruit.

          "Don't get too excited, I only found enough for tonight. It is winter, after all, not much is growing," Celina told them. Everyone nodded, understanding that relying on the land much longer wouldn't do them any good. Suddenly a loud noise disrupted the calmness of the forest.

          "What was that!?" Sokka asked worried. Another noise echoed throughout the forest.

          "It's coming from over there!" Aang pointed out. Celina, Aang, and Katara rushed off in the direction of the noise. Hiding behind bushes the three of them (plus Sokka who managed to catch up) found the source of the noises to be a younger earthbender. He seemed to be practicing.

          "An earthbender!" Katara said excited.

          "Let's go meet him!" Aang suggested.

          "He looked dangerous, so we better approach cautiously," Sokka said. Katara had other plans as she stepped out from behind the bushes to great him.

          "Hello there, I'm Katara! What's your name?" she introduced herself. The earthbender looked over at Katara in surprise before running off, blocking any chase with the boulder he had been practicing with. "We just wanted to say hi."

          "Something has to be going on to make him run away like that," Celina pondered to herself.

          "Hey, that guy's gotta be running somewhere, maybe we're near a village and I bet that village has a market!" Aang thought out.

          "Which means no nuts for dinner!" Katara exclaimed excited. Celina and Sokka watched as she and Aang went running off.

          "Hey! I worked hard to get those nuts!" Sokka shouted after them. Momo, who had attempted to each said nuts earlier flew off after them. "Yeah, I hate 'em too."

          "Come on, let's go," Celina said, pulling Sokka with her.

* * *

 

          Aang was right in there being a village nearby. Celina went straight to work in purchasing rations for their journey. She had taken up the job mostly because the others got too distracted by other things. Katara helped her on occasion but still, Celina was the only one to really be trusted with their money and spending it on supplies. When they were just finished in the market Katara spotted the earthbender from earlier and chased him into a shop. Celina, Sokka, and Aang followed after her, finding her confronting the boy.

          "Hey, you're that kid! Why did you run away before?" Katara asked him.

          "Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid," the boy replied, trying to worm his way out of the conversation. He was trying to hide that they saw him earthbending, Celina figured out that much.

          "No she doesn't, we saw you earthbending," Aang popped in.

          The woman the boy was speaking up immediately closed the windows to her shop before turned back to the boy. "They saw you doing what?"

          "That's not allowed here is it?" Celina asked, piecing everything together. Before the woman had time to reply there was heavy banging on the door.

          "Open up!" a man commanded.

          "Fire Nation! Act natural!" Sokka told them after peaked out the window. Celina watched as Sokka, Katara, and Aang got in unconvincing positions. She turned her attention to the boy who was freaking out so much that the Fire Nation soldiers would know something was up immediately.

          "You need to relax," she whispered to him. The boy tried to relax but couldn't, he was toast if he kept it up. As the door opened Celina used some quick thinking and kissed him. If he was going to draw attention to himself it might as well be for a different reason, one that wouldn't make soldiers suspicious. He tensed up a first but relaxed, enjoying the kiss. When they broke apart Celina noticed that that Fire Nation soldiers had threatened his mother into paying more money. She also noticed that the boy was looking at her all dreamy eyed. She quickly split apart from him, hoping he didn't get the wrong idea. Sure she just had her first kiss, but it was only to save the kid's butt, nothing more.

          "How long has the Fire Nation been here?" she asked the woman.

          "Are we going to ignore the fact that you just kissed a random guy we just met?!" Sokka exclaimed. Celina chose to roll her eyes at her brother and focus on the woman.

          "Five years," she answered. "Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships."

          "They're thugs," the boy said, breaking out of the dreamy state. "They steal from us and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it."

          "Quiet, Haru. Don't talk like that," his mother scolded.

          "But, Haru's an earthbender, he can help," Katara said coming to his defense.

          "Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village. He must never use his abilities," Haru's mother said, confirming Celina's theory.

          "How can you say that? Haru has a gift. Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me or Celina not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are. Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?" Katara argued.

          "They'd take him away," Celina said. Everyone looked at her, Haru and his mother surprised that she figured it out. "With earthbending forbidden the Fire Nation's not gonna allow them to stick around to fight back. Once found out they'd take him away just like they have done with all the others. Isn't that right?"

          "Yes, just like his father," his mother nodded sadly.

* * *

 

          Haru led the group to his family's barn. "My mom said you can sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning," he told Aang, though he looked at Celina when speaking.

          "Thanks. I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay," Aang thanked. Celina looked over at Appa who had his mouth stuffed with hay, happily chewing away. Aang walked away, leaving Celina alone with Haru.

          "So about that kiss…" Haru brought up smiling at her.

          "Yeah, sorry about that," Celina apologized.

          "No, no, I didn't mind. In fact, it was nice," Haru told her. Celina blushed. She wasn't expecting this. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

          "Uh….." Celina stalled, not knowing what to say. Luckily for her, she was saved when Katara walked up to them.

          "Hey, Haru, can I talk to you?" she asked.

          "Yes! You two go talk," Celina encouraged pushing them out of the barn. Once they were gone Celina leaned against the barn walls and let out a sigh of relief. She looked up to see Sokka staring at her with his arms crossed.

          "Can we talk about that kiss now?"

          "Ugh! Why does everyone want to talk about the kiss? It was just something I did to make things look less suspicious," Celina ranted annoyed.

          "So you don't like him?" Sokka asked, a bit more relaxed.

          "No," she answered. There was silence between the two of them.

          "So… that was your first kiss. Saving someone from the Fire Nation," Sokka stated.

          "Yeah, I guess it was," Celina said.

          Katara returned later and told their group about her and Haru's talk, along with Haru saving an old man by earthbending. They had just settled in for the night, seeing that they were leaving early the next morning. Celina chose to set up her sleeping bag near Appa. She'd grown close to the bison during their travels and Appa was more than happy to have her next to him. He'd become a comfort to her and her a comfort to him. The next morning when the group was packing up to leave Katara came running back into the barn in a panic.

          "They took him! They took Haru away!" she shouted.

          "What?" Aang asked confused.

          "The old man turned him into the Fire Nation. It's all my fault, I forced him into earthbending," Katara explained emotional.

          "Katara, slow down, when did this happen?" Celina asked taking hold of her sister's shoulders.

          "Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight," she told them.

          "Then it's too late to track him, he's long gone," Sokka said.

          "We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru," Katara said.

          "And why would they do that?" Aang asked.

          "Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending," Katara said determined.

* * *

 

          Katara's plan had gone wonderfully as they used the ventilation systems of the mines to trick guards into thinking that Katara was earthbending. They had her taken away to a rig off in the ocean. Celina, Sokka, and Aang watched her from afar on Appa. Sokka had given her twelve hours to find Haru and once night fell, the group flew to the rig to pick them up.

          "Your twelve hours are up, where's Haru? We've got to get out of here," Sokka told her, staying in the shadows.

          "I can't," Katara said. "I'm not leaving. I'm not giving up on these people."

          "What do you mean you're not leaving?!" Sokka quietly exclaimed.

          "We can't abandon these people. There has to be a way to help them," Katara said.

          "Maybe she's right. What do you say, Sokka?" Aang asked.

          "I say you're both crazy! Celina, you've got to agree with me," Sokka said turning to Celina.

          "No, Sokka. We should help free them," Celina told him before turning back to Katara and Aang. "So what should we do?"

          "I tried talking the earthbenders into fighting back, but it didn't work. If there was just a way to help them help themselves," Katara said.

          "For that, they'd need some kind of earth or some rock… something they can bend," Sokka offered, jumping on board.

          "But this entire place is made of metal," Katara complained.

          "No, it's not. Look at the smoke," Aang pointed out, motioning to the smokestacks on the upper reaches of the rig. "I bet they're burning coal."

          "Looks like we found our earth," Celina smirked before the group went into planning.

* * *

 

          Celina waited on an ice shelf she created off the side of the ship, bending water she gathered from the ocean around her. She was to come up and help with the fight with the earthbenders, or try and fight off the Fire Nation with the group if the earthbenders didn't go for it. Celina was very much hoping that she didn't have to resort to Plan B. So she stood there and listened for when she needed to come in.

          "There's the intruder!" a Fire Nation soldier shouted, having spotted Sokka.

          "Stay back, I'm warning you!" Sokka warned.

          "Katara stop! You can't win this fight!" an older voice pleaded.

          "Listen to him well, child. You're one mistake away from dying where you stand," the warden told Katara. Celina suddenly felt the rig shake, signaling that Aang managed to get the coal out for the earthbenders.

          "Here's your chance, earthbenders! Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!" Katara said, trying to inspire them. She was met with silence.

          The warden laughed at her. "Foolish girl! You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago. Oh? But you still believe in them? How sweet. They're a waste of your energy, little girl. You've failed," the warden mocked her.

          Celina sprung up onto the deck of the rig. Looks like she was going with Plan B. Everyone gasped, surprised by the waterbender's appearance. "Looks like we'll have to inspire them with a bit of fighting of our own," Celina said to Katara, giving her half of the water she had on her. Celina then turned to the warden, water whipping him on the side of his face.

          "You little, bitch," the warden growled at her. He prepared to throw some fire at her when a piece of coal flew at him, hitting him right in the middle of his forehead. Celina turned around to see Haru twirling lumps of coal in his left hand, anger clearly present on his face. The warden responded by sending a blast of fire at him. Haru braced for impact which didn't come as a mixture of water and coal created a wall protecting him. Celina was responsible for the water portion of the wall while an older man stepped forward, getting in an earthbending stance. That must have been Tyro, Haru's father that Katara told them about.

          "Show no mercy!" the warden shouted.

          "For the Earth Kingdom, attack!" Tyro shouted back. An all-out fight broke out the gang and earthbenders against the Fire Nation soldiers. Water, fire, earth, air. All four elements broke out in a fight on the rig. Celina choose to stay away from the warden, fighting against Fire Nation soldiers alongside some earthbenders. Their spears had no effect on her as soon they tried to stab her she'd use her waterbending to grab them from their hands. Momo flew down to take them away for her. At one point during the fight, Haru and Tyro did some father-son team up and sent a boulder of coal towards the door of the rig, blasting a hole into it.

          "Get to the ship! We'll hold them off!" Tyro shouted to Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Celina.

          "Don't let them escape!" the warden ordered. Fire Nation soldiers tried to barricade the door by using firebending. Aang, however, created a small tornado that the four of them used to shot at the soldiers, knocking them all down. Tyro was busy with two other earthbenders as they gathered all the coal with the warden and all his men on it, bending it out of the ocean.

          "No, please! I can't swim!" the warden pleaded.

          "Don't worry, I hear cowards float," Tyro replied before dropping them into the ocean. Everyone cheered at their victory before boarding the Fire Nation ships and headed back to land. Aang and Sokka swam next to the boat on Appa as Katara and Celina looked out to the rig. Haru and his father approached them.

          "I wanted to thank you two for saving me. For saving us," Haru thanked them.

          "It was all Katara's idea," Celina pointed out, giving her sister the credit she deserved.

          "It was just a little coal," Katara blushed, embarrassed by the attention.

          "It was more than just coal. It was you, the both of you," Haru said. His smile towards Katara was one of admiration but his smile towards Celina was one of adoration. Celina coming to his rescue certain didn't lessen his crush towards her. She shifted feeling a bit uncomfortable.

          "Thank you for helping me find my courage. My family and everyone here owes you two much," Tyro told them.

          "So, I guess you're going home now?" Katara asked.

          "Yes, to take back my village. To take back ALL of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!" Tyro said announcing to the earthbenders on the ship. He turned back and looked at Celina as Haru and Katara went off to talk.

          "So you're Celina. My son has told me a lot about you," Tyro informed her. Celina blushed embarrassed, wondering how much Haru could have told him. After all, they had only known each other for less than a day before he got captured. "You really are as pretty as Haru said."

          Celina was fully uncomfortable at this point. She wasn't pretty. She wasn't beautiful. Everyone in the South Pole taught her that. She was a freak and loser and someone who didn't fit in. No one would want her. Katara was beautiful. Katara was pretty. She was the girl that all the boys should go after.

          "My mother's necklace! It's gone!" Katara cried out. She ran over to Celina, flinging herself into her sister's arms. "It's gone, Celina. It's gone."

          "It… it'll be alright, Katara," Celina tried to reassure her. She held her tightly, rubbing her back to try and soothe her like their mother used to do. "It'll be alright."


	7. The Winter Solstice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I normally do one chapter for each episode but since "The Winter Solstice" is a two-parter I decided to combine them into one chapter. Anyway, I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy and please review.

          The group had been flying around for a while. Everyone was stretched out in Appa's saddle, minus Aang who was leaning back comfortably in the driver's seat. The comfortable silence was broken by Katara pondering out loud.

          "Those clouds look so soft, don't they? Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft cottony heap," she said.

          "Maybe you should give it a try," Sokka suggested.

          "You're hilarious," Celina replied sarcastically.

          "I'll try it!" Aang jumped up excitedly. He jumped off Appa, hurtling down through the clouds. The Water Tribe siblings tried to relocate him once he disappeared, only for him to land next to them on the glider, soaking wet. "Turns out clouds are made of water."

          "No kidding," Celina commented, bending the water from the young monk. Throwing it over the side of the saddle the group noticed the below them, around the floor of the valley was a darkened spot amongst the vegetation.

          "It's like a scar," Sokka observed.

          A scar. Whenever she heard the word Celina couldn't help but think of a certain prince who had been hunting them down. Why wouldn't she with a scar that prominent? Celina often wondered how he got the scar. It was clear that someone gave it to him, she figured that out one night when she couldn't sleep. Celina was just staring at her hand, thinking, before it hit her. Lifting her hand to her eye it fit perfectly like Zuko's scar. Someone gave it to him but who? Who would scar a prince?

          "Fire Nation!" Sokka shouted. They apparently landed while Celina was lost in her thoughts. "Those evil savages make me sick!" Celina took the chance to look at the surroundings. Sokka was right, everything was finally charred, leaving the once lush setting to ashes. Celina dismounted from Appa and joined her siblings and Aang.

          "Why would anyone do this? How could I let this happened?" Aang mourned ashamed.

          "Aang, you didn't let this happen. You were trapped in an iceberg for Spirit's sake," Celina tried to reassure him.

          "But it's the Avatar's job to protect nature and I don't know how to do my job," he said.

          "That's why we're heading to the North Pole, to find you a teacher," Katara added.

          "Yeah, a waterbending teacher, but there's no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me," Aang sighed. Celina shivered thinking back to the room of past Avatars. Sure the statue of Avatar Roku didn't make her feel as uncomfortable as the other statues but he still made her feel uneasy. She slunk back over to Appa and ran her fingers through his fur, trying to calm herself down. Appa let out a rumble, trying to comfort the distressed girl, as he nuzzled his head into her side. Celina smiled, thankful for the air bison's kindness as she began to hum. A couple minutes later, after an inspirational everything-will-grow-back-from-these-acorns speech from Katara, an old man appeared and walked right up to Aang.

          "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible, but those markings… are you the Avatar, child?" he asked. Aang nodded in response. "My village desperately needs your help."

* * *

          The group followed the old man back towards his village for the rest of the afternoon. When they finally arrived it was sunset. The group looked around at the burned and destroyed buildings. The old man lead them into one of the remaining undamaged buildings where he introduced them to the village Chief.

          "It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence," the chief bowed.

          "Nice to meet you too. So… is there something I can help you with?" Aang asked.

          "I'm not sure..." the Chief answered looking disheartened.

          "Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope. For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei-Bai, the black and white spirit," the old man explained.

          "A spirit? Why is he attacking you?" Celina asked. "There has to be a reason, spirits don't typically attack unless provoked."

          "How do you know that?" Sokka questioned.

          "Honesty, Sokka, you really should have paid more attention to Gran Gran's stories," Celina sighed.

          "We don't know," the Chief answered. "But each of the last three nights he has been abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near." Celina froze in fear; she forgot the winter solstice was coming up. Sokka looked over at his sister worried. The winter solstice meant the worst of her nightmares. Looks like she wasn't sleeping anytime soon.

          "What happened then?" Katara asked.

          "As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the Spirit World grow closer and closer until the line between them is blurred completely," the old man explained.

          "Hei-Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here there is no telling what will happen," the Chief added.

          "So what do you want me to do exactly?" Aang asked.

          "Who better to resolve a crisis between our world and the Spirit World than the Avatar himself? You are the great bridge between man and spirits," the Chief replied.

* * *

          Everyone waited in anxious silence as the sun set. Celina, Sokka, and Katara stood by the window as they watched Aang exit the building and walk towards the entrance of the village.

          "This isn't right. We can't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up," Sokka said.

          "If anyone can save us, he can," the old man told Sokka as he walked up to the Water Tribe siblings.

          "He still shouldn't have to face this alone," Sokka stated. The environment darkened as the sun fully set.

          "The sun has set. Where are you, Hei-Bai? Well, spirit, uh, I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace!" Aang shouted into the air. He twirled his staff around and then planted it on the ground like it was a protection spell. A bad feeling filled Celina's gut as Aang turned to walk back to the safe house. That feeling came true as a massive, six legged, black and white, spirit emerged from the forest. Seeing a shadow cast over him Aang looked up and gave the spirit a nervous smile.

          "You must be the Hei-Bai spirit. My name is…" But Aang didn't get the chance to finish as Hei-Bai sends a blast of blue energy from its mouth, blowing Aang's staff to the ground. The blasts of energy continued but this time the blasts were directed at the village. Aang tried talking to the spirit but it wasn't having any of it, choosing to ignore Aang and continued with his destruction of the village buildings.

          "The Avatar's methods are… unusual," the Chief noted as they watched on.

          "It doesn't seem too interested in what he's saying. Maybe we should go help him," Sokka suggested.

          "No, only the Avatar stands a chance against the Hei-Bai," the old man shot down.

          "Aang will figure out the right thing to do, Sokka," Katara tried to reassure him.

          "I'm not so sure about that?" Celina muttered to herself. Sokka waited only a couple more minutes before Hei-Bai swatted Aang away, throwing him into the roof of a building. The young airbender slide off the roof and collapsed to the ground.

          "That's it! He needed help!" Sokka exclaimed and then climbed out the window.

          "Sokka wait!" Katara cried out.

          Katara tried to follow but Celine held her back. "Katara, it's not safe out there."

          "But Sokka –"

          "We need to trust that he and Aang will take care of it," Celina told him. "The more people Aang has to worry about the more likely that Hei-Bai will only cause more destruction. I don't like it either but we just have to stay here and let them take care of it."

          Celina and Katara watched on as Sokka and Aang confronted Hei-Bai. Celina couldn't help but facepalm when Sokka threw his boomerang at the spirit only to have it hit it's butt, having no effect on it whatsoever. The girls let out a gasp as within a flash Hei-Bai grabbed Sokka and ran out into the forest. Aang followed after them.

          "Sokka!" Katara cried out. Celina jumped out the window and ran towards the entrance of the village, forgoing what she said to Katara earlier. Celina stood at the entrance, just staring out at the forest. Katara walked up next to her and gave Celina a hug.

* * *

 

          The girls waited by the village gate all night, hoping that Aang would come back with their brother. The old man from before came up and gave them a blanket. Celina handed it off to Katara. There was no way that she would be sleeping anytime soon with what just happened, along with the winter solstice coming up. Besides, Katara needed rest more than she did.

          "You should get some rest," the old man told them. "Your brother is in good hands. I would be shocked if the Avatar returned without him."

          "Celina, Katara, I lost him." Celina whipped around to see Aang walking towards them distraught. But there was something different about him, it's like he wasn't completely there. Katara and the old man didn't seem to notice him though which very much confused Celina.

          "The sun is rising. Perhaps he will return soon," the old man suggested.

          "What are you talking about he's right there," Celina said, pointing to Aang. Katara and the old man looked at her like she was crazy.

          "Is she okay?" the old man asked Katara.

          "Yeah, she gets like this whenever something extreme happens. We think that she thinks up imaginary beings to cope with the pain," Katara explained, trying to whisper to him but clearly Celina still heard.

          "Guys! We're right here! We can hear you!" Celina shouted.

          "We should just leave her to her imagination, she should be back to normal in an hour or two," Katara suggested as her and the old man went back inside the village.

          "What?" Celina and Aang said confused.

          "It's a good thing you can see me, Celina," Aang sighed in relief.

          "Yeah, but why?" Celina asked confused. The rising of the sun helped to answer their question as the light helped reveal the blue glow that surrounded Aang. He looked at his hands surprised.

          "I'm in the Spirit World!" Aang realized.

          "What?!" Celina exclaimed.

          "But then how can you see me if I'm in the Spirit World?" Aang asked.

          "I…" Celina paused. How could she see him? Was she always able to see spirits? It would explain why everyone thought she was crazy back home in the South Pole. They always thought that she was talking to nothing whenever she was talking to one of her animal friends. So she could see and has been talking to spirits. It explained how her friends would suddenly appear and disappear. "I guess I've always been able to see spirits."

          "Huh, that's… interesting," Aang said, trying to give her a smile. Celina felt a stab of sadness. Sure she had been made fun of and called a freak her whole life but that didn't mean she was used to it. And now having it come from her friends… it hurt even more than the years of bullying back at the village.

          "So what are we going to do now?" Celina asked, pushing her hurt feelings aside.

          "I'll figure something out. Like they said, I'm the bridge between the worlds. All I have to do is… figure out what I have to do. But once I do that, no problem!" Aang tried to pass off. Celina just raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe I need help. Avatar Roku, how can I talk to you?"

          Celina tensed, feeling a distinct change in the air. Her and Aang turned and looked into the forest, hearing a rustling.

          "Sokka?" Aang asked. A bright light shined through the foliage and suddenly a blue spirit dragon came flying towards them.

          "That's not Sokka," Celina shrieked. Celina and Aang cowered as the dragon stood towering over them.

          "You don't happen to know where Sokka is, do you?" Aang asked the dragon. The dragon in response bent down and touched his forehead with one of his whiskers. Celina watched as Aang's eyes glowed a bright blue. She couldn't help but tense up when the dragon looked at her. There was something about him that reminded Celina of the Avatar statues. The dragon's gaze turned back to Aang as the glowing in his eyes stopped.

          "You're Avatar Roku's animal guide! Like Appa is to me," Aang said to the dragon.

          "No wonder you make me uncomfortable," Celina muttered. Aang and the dragon shot her a look, the dragon more so glaring at her. "Sorry, but your past lives make me super uncomfortable. When we were in the Air Temple Sanctuary I just felt their eyes on me, just trying to stare me into the ground." The dragon's eyes softened for a reason that Celina couldn't figure out why.

          "I need to save my friend and I don't know how. Is there some way for me to talk to Roku?" Aang asked the dragon. The dragon nodded and then bends his neck down. Aang jumped aboard and he and the dragon took off into the forest.

          "Aang!" Celina called out. She took off after them into the forest, trying to keep up the best she could. But she was not only up against a dragon but a spirit dragon at that. It didn't take long for her to completely lose them. Celina kept running until she came upon the burned portion of the forest. She let out a gasped when she saw Aang sitting on top of a bear statue.

          "Aang?" She got no response. "Right, he's in the Spirit World." Moving up to the statue Celina ran her fingers over the darkened wood. Bringing it away she looked down at her fingers to find ash left behind. Looks like the statue didn't completely escape the Fire Nation's flames.

          "Maybe that's why the spirit's so angry," Celina mused. She sighed and looked back up at Aang's body. There was no way she was leaving Aang's body out in the open with no one to defend it while he was in the Spirit World. Finding that she wasn't going anywhere until Aang got back Celina sat down next to the statue. Her thoughts turned to her brother. Sokka must be freaking out, most likely being trapped in the Spirit World. But she knew the thing he'd be freaking out about the most was that he wasn't back here with her the closer that the Winter Solstice arrived. The Solstice was when the worst of her nightmares happened and Sokka would always be there to comfort her. Celina admitted that she was freaking out with him.

          Before she had time to dive deeper into her thoughts Roku's dragon came rushed towards the statue with Aang. Celina immediately got up to her feet as Aang's spirit entered his body and the dragon disappeared into the statue of the bear. Aang jumped down off the statue, grabbed Celina's hand, and took off towards the village.

          "Come on, we have to get back," Aang told her.

          "Aang, what's going on? Where did you go? Where's Sokka?" Celina questioned. He didn't bother answering her, his main goal was to get back to the village as fast as they could.

          Celina and Aang made it back to the village around sunset. Katara was at the entrance of the village when they arrived and gladly rushed to hug Aang. Momo flew up and perched on Celina's shoulder, giving her cheek a small lick.

          "You're back!" Katara exclaimed. "Where's Sokka?"

          "I'm not sure," Aang admitted sadly.

* * *

          Night had fallen and Aang once again stood at the gate. Celina and Katara were watching him from inside the safe house. He waited at the gate for some time before heading back into the village. The airbender walked up to a house with wind chimes, only to have the angry spirit burst through the building's roof. Hei-Bai let out a roar and then sent an energy blast towards Aang, who in turn got knocked to the ground.

          "Aang, what are you doing? Run!" Katara called out. Celina sprinted into action, as she jumped out the window to help Aang. "Celina!"

          "I'm not letting anyone else get taken again!" Celina cried. She rushed over to Aang and helped him up to his feet. Hei-Bai went to send another energy blast at them but stopped. The spirit bent down and sniffed Celina's head before backing away and sitting down in front of them. Suddenly something clicked in her mind.

          "You're the spirit of this forest aren't you?" she asked. The spirit nodded in response.

          "Now I understand. You're upset and angry because your home was burned down. When I saw the forest had burned I was sad and upset. But my friend gave me hope that the forest would grow back," Aang said and then pulled out an acorn, offering it to the spirit. Hei-Bai looked over at Celina, almost asking her if it was alright to take. Celina nodded. The spirit took the acorn and transformed into a panda. He turned and walked out of the village, sprouting a thicket of bamboo as he exited the gate. Moments later people exited the bamboo looking confused.

          "Sokka!" Celina and Katara shouted as they ran up to hug their brother.

          "What happened?" Sokka asked.

          "You were trapped in the Spirit World for 24 hours," Celina explained.

          "How are you feeling?" Katara asked.

          "Like I seriously need to use the bathroom!" Sokka answered and then went off to go pee.

          Aang walked up to the girls as Katara turned and asked Celina a question. "What happened back there? What did you do?"

          "I… I'm not sure," Celina admitted.

          "She's able to see and communicate with the spirits," Aang informed the younger waterbender.

          "What!" Sokka exclaimed having returned from his bathroom break.

          "So those imaginary friends that you talked to weren't actually imaginary? They were spirits?" Katara asked.

          "Wow, you're not crazy anymore, just weird," Sokka commented. Katara slapped the back of Sokka's head for Celina.

          "Wow, thanks, Sokka," Celina rolled her eyes, trying to push past the hurtful comment.

          The Chief of the village walked up to them. "Thank you, Avatar. If there only were a way to repay you for what you and your friend have done."

          "You could give us some supplies and some money," Sokka suggested.

          "Sokka," Katara exclaimed, elbowing her in the arm.

          "We do need some supplies. We can't keep trying to live off the land now with winter," Celina backed him up.

          "It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey," the Chief said and then went off to make preparations and gather supplies for them.

          "There's something I need to tell you guys," Aang said to the group. "I need to talk to Roku and I think I've found a way to contact his spirit."

          "That's great!" Katara smiled.

          "Creepy, but great," Sokka commented.

          "There's a temple on a crescent shaped island, and if I go there on the Solstice I'll be able to speak with him," Aang told them.

          "But, the Solstice is tomorrow," Katara pointed out.

          "Why do I have a bad feeling that there's a catch?" Celina asked.

          "This island is in the Fire Nation," Aang said.

          "And there it is," Celina sighed as terrified looks graced her siblings' faces.

          It was clear that neither of them were happy about this information and protested as Aang and Celina headed over to Appa who was packed with supplies from the village. "Please don't go, Aang. The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation," Katara pleaded.

          "But I have to talk to Avatar Roku to find out what my vision means. I need to get to the Fire Nation Temple before the sunset on the solstice. And that's today," Aang explained.

          "Don't remind me," Celina shivered. Celina had been on edge ever since midnight came around. She was tired from staying up all night but there was no way that she could fall asleep during the solstice. Aang helped Celina onto Appa and they were about to take off when Katara and Sokka stood in front of Appa.

          "We're not letting you go into the Fire Nation, Aang," Katara told him.

          "At least not without your friends. We got your back," Sokka smiled. Celina helped her siblings onto Appa as the Chief came up to them, carrying a parcel.

          "You'll have to fly fast to have any chance of making it before sundown. Good luck," the Chief wished, handing the parcel over to Aang.

          "Thank you, for your…" Aang went to say.

          "Time to go," Celina interrupted, taking hold of Appa's reigns. "Yip yip!" Appa took off into the air as the group headed to the Fire Nation.

* * *

          The sun was rising high in the sky as they raced towards the Fire Nation though Celina was having a difficult time staying awake. Katara begged that she get some sleep while things were still calm. Sokka took awhile but agreed with Katara, saying that he'd be there to comfort her when the nightmare became too much. So Celina gave in. Closing her eyes she succumbed to the sleep that had been calling for her.

_Her dream started off back at the burned down forest, completely different from the past solstice dreams which took place back in the tundra of the South Pole. Everything was darker here as the sky was completely black. Celina shivered feeling a familiar dark presence enter._

_"Hello my dear, Celina. It's wonderful to see you again." Celina didn't respond, instead, she tried to shrink down into herself the best she could. "What? No hello for your good friend?"_

_"You're not my friend," Celina squeaked._

_"Oh, but why not? I mean, we've known each other for such a long time. I would think we'd be friends." Once again she remained silent but HE wasn't having it._

_"The silent treatment huh. Well if you're going to be a bitch, then I'm going to treat you like one." Celina screamed as she was beaten by multiple arms, slashing through her clothes and into her skin. "Look at that face. What a pretty little pained face."_

_Everything went dark and there was nothing but pain._

          Celina let out a shriek, thankfully waking herself up. Sokka immediately rushed to his sister's side, cradling her in his arms as she cried. "It's okay, Celina. I got you, you're safe," he soothed.

          "Uh, guys, we got trouble," Aang informed everyone, noticing Zuko's ship following them.

          "And it's gaining fast!" Katara added. Celina didn't have much time to gather her composure as Zuko's ship sent a giant fireball soaring towards them. Aang managed to dodge it by steering Appa's reigns sharply away from the projectile. The Water Tribe siblings clung to the saddle.

          "We have to get out of Zuko's range before he shoots another hot stinker at us!" Katara shouted to Aang.

          "Can't you make Appa go any faster?" Sokka asked.

          "Yeah, but there's just one little problem," Aang said. Celina looked up in front of them to see a blockade of Fire Nation ships.

          "If we fly north we can go around the Fire Nation ships and avoid the blockade. It's the only way," Aang told them.

          "There's no time," Katara pointed out.

          "This is exactly why I didn't want you to come. It's too dangerous," Aang said.

          "And that's exactly why we're here," Celina said, furiously wiping the tears from her face. "Let's run the blockade."

          "Appa! Yip yip!" Aang ordered. Appa let out a growl as he stormed swiftly towards the blockade of ships. Everyone screamed as fireballs came soaring after them from every direction. Aang did his best, steering Appa to avoid the fireballs. Unfortunately one of the fireballs managed to graze Appa's back. The bison let out a screech of pain. Celina quickly drew water from her skin to put out the fire. "Appa! Are you okay?" The bison let out an affirmative grumble.

          The avoiding of fireballs continued. Trying to avoid one of the fireballs sent Sokka flying over the saddle and plummeting towards the ocean below. "Sokka!" the group called out. Aang sent Appa diving down to rescue Sokka. Katara caught their brother and pulled him back into the saddle while Celina picked up some water from the ocean, ready to use it to at least douse out flames. She managed to use up half of the water she pulled when they saw a fireball coming straight at them.

          "Celina!" he shouted out. Celina ran up to the front of Appa. She looked at Aang who nodded and they both sent out blasts towards it, Aang sending out air and Celina using the rest of the water. The flaming ball exploded from the blasts and created a cloud of smoke and steam. Appa flew out of the cloud and right over the Fire Nation blockade.

          "We made it!" Aang cheered. Celina looked back to her siblings who looked extremely shaken up but amazed.

          "We got into the Fire Nation…" Sokka said in disbelief before his demeanor changed. "Great…"

          "Wow, Celina. That was some smart thinking. I had to admit I thought you'd be down and out after that nightmare of yours," Aang told her. Celina tensed remembering her nightmare. She couldn't help but shiver in response.

          "You still look really tired," Katara noticed. "Maybe you should get some more sleep before…"

          "NO!" Celina shouted, shocking Aang and Katara with her outburst. "I'll sleep after the Solstice."

          "But…" Katara went to protest.

          "I've survived off little to no sleep before. This won't be any different," Celina interrupted, sitting back down in the saddle.

          "Sokka, please tell her to get some sleep," Katara begged their brother.

          "Leave her alone, Katara. She's had enough sleep for today," Sokka told her, as he scooted over to Celina and wrapped his arms around her shoulder. Celina leaned into her brother's comforting touch as she tried to keep the scenes from her nightmare away.

          "There it is! The island Roku's dragon took me to!" Aang called out. Everyone looked out and saw the crescent shaped island appear as they exited the clouds. At the center of the island was a large volcano, the smoke and fire spirting out of it marking that it was still active. Appa landed down near the temple, hidden by surviving overgrowth.

          "You did it, buddy. Nice flying," Aang praised. Appa groaned before rolling to his side in exhaustion. Celina walked up to the bison and began to rub his tummy.

          "Ah, poor Appa. You must be tired," she cooed to the beast.

          "No. I'm good. Refreshed and ready to fight some firebenders," Sokka replied.

          "I was talking to Appa," Celina told him, raising an eyebrow at her brother.

          "Well, I was talking to Momo," Sokka tried to save himself. The lemur in question flew up to Celina's shoulder, chittering happily.

          "Come on, let's head inside," Aang said. The group followed Aang up the steep path leading to the Fire Temple. Everyone was on high alert, glancing to their left and right in anticipation that they could be attacked.

          "I don't see any guards," Sokka noticed as they crouched down behind a lower wall in the front of the temple.

          "The Fire Nation must have abandoned the temple when Avatar Roku died," Katara thought out loud.

          "It's almost sundown," Celina pointed out.

          "We'd better hurry," Aang said. Celina, Sokka, and Katara followed Aang into the temple as the sun started to set. They were sneakily running through the temple. Once they reached the center of the temple Sokka stopped them, saying that he heard something. Turning around the group saw five elderly men dressed in red robes. Celina couldn't help but jump seeing them sneak up on them, still on edge after her nightmare.

          "We are the Fire Sages. Guardians of the temple of the Avatar," one of the men spoke up.

          "Great! I am the Avatar," Aang smiled.

          "We know." The Fire Sages assumed firebending positions and shot fireballs at Aang. The group gasped and Aang deflected the fireballs with airbending.

          "I'll hold them off. Run!" Aang told his friends. Celina took her siblings' hands and ran off down the corridor. Katara wanted to protest, saying that they should stay to help out Aang but Celina shot her down. She said that they'd only get in the way and that Aang would meet up with them later. That statement came true as they were approaching a corner and Aang came running towards them. "Follow me!"

          "Do you know where you're going?" Sokka asked.

          "Nope!" Aang answered. Aang went around the corner on to come running back, followed by a Fire Mage. "Wrong way!"

          The chase continued as the group tried to get away from the Fire Sage. Unfortunately for the group, they came to a dead end. Turning around they saw the Fire Sage blocking them from escaping. Everyone got into defensive positions.

          "I don't want to fight you. I'm a friend," the Fire Sage said.

          "Firebenders aren't exactly our friends," Celina snapped.

          The Fire Sage approached Aang but then dropped down to his knees and bowed to him. "I know why you're here Avatar," he said.

          "You do?" Aang asked surprised.

          "Yes. You wish to speak to Avatar Roku. I can take you to him," the Sage answered, standing up. He reached over to the wall and turned a light fixture that was secretly a lever. A small hole opened up in the wall to which the Sage shot fire into it. A panel in the wall opening up into a secret passage that led into the mountain. "This way."

          The group was apprehensive but quickly followed after the Sage when they heard the other Sages coming. They walked through a vast cavernous system of tunnels with magma from the volcano freely flowing on their right. Celina was sweating, Water Tribe clothing wasn't meant for warm climates and being near an active volcano wasn't helping at all. Not to mention that she was in Roku's temple and Aang's past live always made her uncomfortable.

          "Did you know Avatar Roku?" Aang asked the Sage who they learned was called Shyu.

          "No. But my grandfather knew him. Many generations of Fire Sages guarded this temple long before me. We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place," Shyu explained.

          "Is that how you knew I was coming?" Aang asked.

          "A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred. The statue of Avatar Roku, its eyes began to glow," Shyu told him.

          "That's when we were at the Air Temple. Avatar Roku's eyes were glowing there too!" Katara mentioned.

          "At that moment, we knew you had returned to the world," Shyu said.

          "If this is the Avatar's temple, then why did the Sages attack Aang?" Celina questioned.

          "Things have changed. In the past, the Sages were loyal only to the Avatar. When Roku died, the Sages eagerly awaited for the next Avatar to return. But he never came," Shyu told them.

          "They were waiting for me," Aang said feeling guilty.

          "Hey, don't feel bad. You're only a hundred years late," Sokka said, trying and failing to cheer Aang up.

          "They lost hope the Avatar would ever return. When Fire Lord Sozen began the war, my grandfather and the other Sages were forced to follow him. I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other Sages," Shyu continued.

          "Thank you for helping me," Aang slightly bowed to him. Shyu smiled warmly at Aang. They began climbing up some stairs.

          "We'll follow these stairs to the sanctuary. Once you're inside, wait for the light to hit Avatar Roku's statue. Only then will you be able to speak with him," Shyu told them. They continued on. Once they came to a certain point Shyu opened up a tile in the floor that they exited out of. They looked at the sanctuary only to find that the doors were closed. "NO!"

          "Shyu, what's wrong?" Aang asked.

          "The sanctuary doors, they're closed," Shyu answered.

          "Can't you just open them with firebending? Like you opened the other door?" Katara asked.

          "No. Only a fully realized Avatar is powerful enough to open this door alone. Otherwise, the Sages must open the doors together with five simultaneous fire blasts," Shyu explained.

          "Five fire blasts, huh?" Sokka said, scratching his chin. Celina saw his eyes lit up when he got an idea. "I think I can help you out." Everyone watched as Sokka sat on the floor and began to fill small sacks. "This is a little trick I picked up from my father. I seel the lamp oil inside an animal casing, Shyu lights the oil soaked twin and tada! Fake firebending!"

          "Nice thinking, Sokka," Celina praised her brother.

          "You've really outdone yourself this time," Katara added.

          "This might actually work," Shyu smiled. Once he had all the bags filled Sokka stuffed them into the mouths of the five lion heads that locked the sanctuary doors. Once they were in place Sokka joined Celina, Katara, and Aang behind the nearest column.

          "The Sages will hear the explosions, so as soon as they go off, you rush in," Shyu informed them.

          "It's almost sunset. Are you ready?" Katara asked Aang.

          "Definitely," Aang answered.

          Shyu sent a small flame at the twine which instantly caught on fire. He quickly joined everyone else behind the column. Sokka held Celina close to him as the bombs went off and smoke filled the chamber. Aang instantly ran towards the door and pulled the handles but it wouldn't budge. Everyone came out from behind the column as Aang angrily sent blasts of air at the door.

          "Why won't it open! Aargh!" Aang shouted.

          "Aang, stop! There's nothing else we can do," Katara told him, grabbing his arm and making him stop with the air blasts.

          "I'm sorry I put you through ass this for nothing," Aang apologized.

          "I don't get it. That blast looked as strong as any firebending I've seen," Sokka mused, looking over the soot on the door.

          "Sokka, you're a genius," Celina exclaimed.

          "Wait, how is Sokka a genius? His plan didn't even work," Aang asked confused.

          "You're right. Sokka's plan didn't work… but it looks like it did," Celina explained.

          "Did the definition of 'genius' change in the last hundred years?" Aang asked still confused.

          "Just hide behind a column while Shyu goes and gets the other Fire Sages so that they can open the door," Celina said, heading towards a column. She heard the others go "oh" as they finally got what she was saying. Celina couldn't help but roll her eyes as she turned to Momo and asked him to do something.

* * *

          Celina clung to the top of a column. Sokka and Katara said that it was unnecessary but Celina had a gut feeling that they would need another element of surprise in case something went wrong. Katara was amazed by how she was able to climb up it so quickly. How else did they think she procured the fruits she brought back? Everyone quieted down when they heard the Fire Sages heading towards the door. Celina watched carefully.

          "He's inside. Open the door immediately before he contacts Avatar Roku," one of the Fire Sages ordered. The five of them got into position and shot five fire blasts into the lion's head on the door. Smoke appeared around the door jambs as the mechanism began to work. Soon there was a creak and the door slowly opened. Behind the door, instead of Aang, was Momo.

          "It's the Avatar's lemur! He must have crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!" a Fire Sage announced. Momo instantly attacked the Sage's face, knocking him to the ground. Katara and Sokka grabbed two Sages while Shyu took care of the remaining one.

          "Now, Aang!" Shyu yelled.

          "Aang! Now's your chance!" Katara shouted. Unfortunately, when Aang stepped out from behind the column he was hiding behind, it was with his arms held tightly behind his back by Prince Zuko.

          "The Avatar's coming with me!" he told them. Celina watched as the tables quickly turned as her friends and family were taken captive by the Fire Sages, chaining them to the columns. Celina thanked her gut for giving her this warning. "Close the doors! Quickly!" Once she saw Zuko trying to push Aang towards the opening in the floor which led to the secret tunnels she jumped into action. Jumping down from the column Celina landed on Zuko, throwing him off balance and setting Aang free.

          "Run, Aang!" Celina shouted. Aang quickly listened, sprinting towards the sanctuary doors which were being to close. As Aang dodged fire blast after fire blast from the Fire Sages, Celina realized that she was still on top of Zuko. "Well… I never expected us to be in this position."

          Zuko took a swing at her with a fiery fist causing Celina to roll off him to avoid getting hit. The two teens were in a full out battle with each other. Celina summoned the water from her case, trying to dodge all of the attacks that Zuko threw at her. The Fire Prince would have admitted that he was impressed that the waterbender was holding her own against him but he was too angry that she made him lose the Avatar. Celina was breathing heavily, she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold Zuko off forever, but she just needed to keep him busy until Aang made it into the sanctuary.

          "He made it!" Katara shouted as the doors fully closed. Celina instantly stopped with her fighting, putting her hands up in surrender.

          "Giving up just like that?" Zuko smirked.

          "It's five against one now with you having the advantage. There'd be no point. Besides, I did my job in keeping you busy while Aang got inside," Celina spat. Suddenly a blast of bright white light came from behind the sanctuary doors and Celina felt a pounding in her head. She fell to her knees and fainted as the pain became too much.

          "Should we chain her up?" one of the Sages asked Zuko.

          "Leave her there for now. She should be out for a while. We need to get the doors open," Zuko answered, moving over to the doors. The four Fire Sages joined him as they took position and shot five fire blasts at the door. But nothing happened.

          "Why isn't it working? It's sealed shut!" Zuko shouted extremely aggravated.

          "It must have been the light. Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside," a Sage told him.

* * *

          The first thing that Celina saw was Aang standing in front of Avatar Roku. A shiver went up her spine gazing upon the spirit of the past Avatar. She couldn't help but let out a gasp when Avatar Roku glanced over at her. It felt like the air got knocked out of her as everything went dark.

* * *

          Celina woke up to find that Zuko was facing an older Fire Nation man and looked extremely angry that he was there. "Commander Zhao…," Zuko growled.

          "And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort. But your little smoke screen didn't work. Two traitors, in one, day, the Fire Lord will be pleased," the older man smirked. A Fire Nation soldier came up and grabbed Zuko.

          "Two traitors?" Celina wondered. "What is he talking about?"

          "You're too late, Zhao. The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed," Zuko sneered.

          "No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out," Zhao smiled menacingly. She saw worried looks cross her siblings' faces before feelings hands lift her up off the ground.

          "Commander Zhao, I found this Water Tribe girl on the floor," the soldier holding her reported.

          "Tsk, irresponsible as ever leaving an enemy unchained," Zhao tutted. "Chain them up together."

          "What?!" Celina and Zuko shouted. In no time at all the Fire Nation soldier Celina and Zuko chained up next to each other. Celina didn't bother struggling, finding that there was no point but Zuko didn't think that same way. He struggled, causing the chains to rub against Celina uncomfortably.

          "Uh, will you stop that," Celina hissed at him.

          "Why would I listen to a pathetic Water Tribe peasant like you?" Zuko growled.

          "Hey, don't talk to her like that!" Sokka said coming to her defense.

          "Oh look, your stupid boyfriend is coming to your defense," Zuko mocked.

          "What? Ew!" Sokka and Celina voiced.

          "He's my brother."

          "She's my sister."

          "You're siblings?"

          "Yeah."

          "You guys look nothing alike," Zuko pointed out. He looked over at the girl chained up next to him. Aside from her clothing, there was really nothing about her that spoke Water Tribe. Her skin color was nothing like theirs, skin pale as snow compared to their caramel colored skin. Sure she had dark brown hair like Sokka and Katara, held in a braid, but it appeared to be richer brown than her siblings. And her eyes were blue but they weren't the stormy blue like theirs, her eyes were a pure blue that reminded him of the pond back in his mother's garden. The kind that sparkled whenever the sun hit it just right. But there were dark circles under her eyes that made him wonder if she was getting any sleep. Zuko quickly shook the thought from his head. He didn't care about the strange Water Tribe peasant.

          "When the doors open, unleash all your firebending power," Zhao ordered.

          "How's Aang going to make it out of this?" Katara wondered, worried.

          "How are we going to make it out of this?" Sokka asked, freaking out.

          Celina something warm go through her body, not a warm of being close to the firebender who has been hunting them for a while, or the warmth of the volcano. No, it was something else. Closing her eyes for a moment she caught a glimpse of Aang and Roku once again and heard Roku ask if he was ready to which Aang responded that he was. Opening her eyes Celina looked towards the door as a blinding light started coming out from behind it like before. A bag feeling filled her stomach as she felt a familiar uncomfortable presence. Smoke leaked out from the bottom of the door as Zhao and his soldiers get ready to attack.

          "Get away from the door!" Celina shouted at them frantic. "If you value your lives, get away from the door!"

          "What the hell are you talking about girl?" Zhao snapped at her.

          "You needed to get away from the door! Aang won't be the one coming out of the sanctuary. It will be…" Celina tried to warn them. But the door suddenly burst open to reveal, "Roku." Everyone was shocked to see the past Avatar standing in the doorway. Zhao and his soldiers sent blasts of fire at him but Roku caught them with ease and sent them back. Zhao and his soldiers were knocked back and the heat from the blast caused the chains holding Celina, Sokka, Katara, Shyu, and Zuko to melt. The Fire Prince instantly ran away while Celina ran over to her siblings. They all looked at Avatar Roku whose entire body was glowing. The Fire Sages ran for their lives.

          "Avatar Roku's going to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!" Shyu told them.

          "Not without Aang!" Katara cried. The temple shook as Avatar Roku raised his arms and brought down the floor, causing lava to rise to the surface. Bending the magma from within the volcano he lifts it, causing lava to violently burst through the temple's structure. Lowering his hands Avatar Roku took a deep breath and is then covered by all the smoke he created. Once the smoke was gone the Water Tribe siblings saw Aang standing where Roku once was before falling to the knees, exhausted. They ran over and help him to his feet.

          "We got your back," Sokka said. the airbender.

          "Thanks. Where's Shyu?" Aang asked.

          "We don't know," Katara answered.

          "Probably fleeing the island. We gotta get out of here before it's completely destroyed," Celina told them. Everyone nodded as they ran, making their way out of the temple. They ran as fast as they could but when they approached the stairs that would lead them out they realized that they were trapped, as lava reached all but the top few steps. A column came crashing to the floor behind them. Everyone let out a gasp as they ran towards one of the holes that Roku created. Looking outside they saw that the temple was being devoured by the volcano. The group thought that they were goners until they saw Appa coming to their rescue at full speed. They slide down one of the peaks of the temple and onto Appa's back. As they flew away from they looked back to see the temple sinking further and further into the lava.

          "How did you know that Roku would come out of the door instead of Aang?" Katara asked now that they had time to breathe.

          "It was the same uncomfortable feeling that I got back in the Air Temple with the statues and the same feeling I got when we first saw Roku's dragon. I just knew it was him," Celina answered.

          "Why are you so uncomfortable with Aang's past lives?" Katara continued to question.

          "It just feels like they don't like me or something like that," Celina said. Momo flew up onto Celina's shoulder and nuzzled her cheek, wanting to make her feel better.

          "Guys," Aang spoke up. "We have a problem."

* * *

          The Water Tribe siblings sat and listened as Aang informed them about he and Roku talked about. He told Aang about the comet that he saw in his vision the night before and how it amplified firebenders abilities. How Fire Lord Sozin used that power to start the Hundred Year War. How the comet will return by the end of summer and that Fire Lord Ozai will use its power to take over the world if nothing is done. How it was up to Aang to master the remaining three elements of water, earth, and fire before the end of the summer in order save the world from destruction. Everything was silent as the sun fell and the bright moon entered the sky. Aang hung his head, feeling the weight that was placed on him. Katara was the first to move, then Sokka, then Celina, as they moved towards Aang and just hugged him.


	8. The Waterbending Scroll

          Celina was in the driver's seat on top of Appa, flying through a cloudy sky, while Aang continuously paced back and forth in the saddle. He had been like that ever since they left the Fire Nation and Roku's island. Celina couldn't blame him. He did kinda have the world on his shoulders and only a small time to try and save it. The least she could do was take control of the reigns while he had a little freakout.

          "Would you sit down? If we hit a bump you'll go flying off!" Sokka tried to joke with him. "What's bugging you anyway?"

          "It's what Avatar Roku said. I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives," Aang explained.

          "Well, let's see, you've pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you 112 years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer," Sokka told him.

          "You're not helping," Celina murmured to her brother.

          "I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What am I gonna do!?" Aang freaked out. Katara grabbed hold of Aang and pulled him into a hug, trying to comfort him.

          "Calm down. It's going to be okay," she said to him.

          "If you want, I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know," Celina offered. "That counts for you too Katara."

          "You'd do that?" Aang asked.

          "Of course, we'll just need to find a good source of water first," Celina told them, causing Aang and Katara to look over the edge of the saddle, searching for a good spot.

          "Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in," Sokka commented.

* * *

 

          They ended up finding a great place to practice waterbending. Celina landed Appa next to a huge waterfall that led into a river. The group stood on the bank of the river, looking over where they landed. Celina, Katara, and Aang were amazed by the waterfall while Sokka looked a bit sour, remembering his experiences with Katara's waterbending back home in the South Pole.

          "Nice puddle," he deadpanned.

          Celina couldn't help but laugh as Appa flew himself over the water before dropping himself into the basin of the waterfall. The sky bison happy relaxed in the water. Aang was about to strip off his clothes and join Appa for a fun swim when Katara stopped him.

          "Remember the reason we're here," she said to him.

          "Oh right, time to practice waterbending," Aang blushed slightly embarrassed before fixing his clothes.

          "Great. So what am I supposed to do?" Sokka asked as Celina, Katara and Aang got ready to practice.

          "You could… clean the gunk out of Appa's toes," Aang suggested. He picked up a leafy branch and held it out to Sokka.

          "So while you guys are playing in the water, I'm supposed to be hard a work picking the mud out of a giant bison's feet?" Sokka asked unimpressed.

          "Mud and bugs!" Aang smiled.

          Sokka stared at the branch for a second before taking it from Aang. "Okay," he agreed and then stalked off to go clean out Appa's toes.

          "Alright, now we can start the lesson," Celina declared causing large smiled to spread across Aang and Katara's faces. "The first thing I like to do is pushing and pulling the water. It's a nice warm up along with being pretty calming." She could see the bit of disappoint on their faces but was happy that Katara and Aang didn't complain. Taking a nice calming breath Celina got into position and began to bob gracefully back and forth like she had in the past. The water obediently moved back and forth.

          "I've done this before. The key is getting the wrist movement right," Katara bragged a bit and then copied her sister's movements. The water in front of her moved like it moved in front of Celina. After studying the movement for a second Aang began.

          "Like this?" Aang asked Celina, hoping that he was right.

          "That's good, Aang," Celina smiled.

          "Hey, I'm bending it already!" Aang exclaimed excited. Celina beamed proudly at Aang. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to teach Aang or Katara waterbending but with Aang's advancement so quickly that fear died. Sure, she chalked his quick learning to being the Avatar but she was still proud of him. Katara, however, looked taken aback a bit.

          "Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly. It took me two months to learn that move," Katara said.

          "So what's next?" Aang asked excited.

          Celina couldn't help but giggle at the enthusiasm in his voice. "The next thing is simply learning how to stream the water around," she answered. Celina turned her attention back to the river. Moving her hand Celina drew a stream of water out of the river and began to play with it, manipulating it around her body and looping it into different shapes.

          Once again Katara was confident in this move. "I know this one too!" she stated before drawing the water the water and looping it around less gracefully than her sister had. "It's harder than it looks so don't be disappointed if…"

          She was cut off however when she looked over to see that Aang had already mastered the move. He played with the water like Celina, adding more moves and flourishes in out of excitement. It continued on for a few minutes before Celina returned her water to the river, signaling that that lesson had ended. Katara and Aang followed after.

          "Nice work, Aang," Celina complemented.

          "Though the over-the-head flare was unnecessary," Katara muttered.

          "Sorry," Aang apologized to Katara before turning back to Celina. "Don't stop now, keep 'em coming!"

          "Alright, feel like trying something difficult for beginners?" Celina asked. Aang shook his head excitedly while Katara looked determined. "Okay, so the idea behind this one is to create a big, powerful wave." Celina turned back to the water and raised her hands. A large wave rose up out of the water and she sent it towards the waterfall, causing a nice crash. "It's okay if you can't get a wave that big, just try your best and keep practicing."

          Celina watched as Katara tried first. Her sister had a look of extreme concentration on her face as she tried her best to raise some water. Katara managed to raise a blob of water out of the river and tried to turn it into a small wave but it ended up falling back into the river. Aang then got ready. He raised his hands and a huge wall of water shot up into the air. The three watched as the wave headed straight towards Sokka which ended up hitting him and Appa.

          "Looks like I got the hang of it! What else you got?" Aang asked.

          "That's enough practice for today," Celina said, seeing that her sister was getting annoyed. She knew better than to fuel that fire, but Katara would have to get over Aang advancing in waterbending better than she could. Sokka marched up to the three of them, dripping wet and angry.

          "Aang! You just practiced our supplies down the river!" Sokka scolded. Everyone looked over to see their supplies floating down the river. Celina winced, seeing that they were too far gone for her to try and bend them back. Looks like they had to go shopping again.

          "Sorry," Aang sheepishly apologized. "I'm sure we can find somewhere to replace all this stuff."

          "Ugh, it was hard enough when you were just an airbender," Sokka groaned.

* * *

 

          The group managed to find a marketplace in a port village where they could restock. They had managed to get some stuff, but not as much to Celina's liking. Walking out of a shop after getting some more food she headed over to her siblings and Aang who were waiting for her.

          "Okay, we got exactly three copper pieces left," she informed them.

          "Uhh, make that two copper pieces. I couldn't say no to this whistle," Aang admitted pulled out a white whistle in the shape of a bison. He took a deep breath and blew into it but no sound came out except the rushing of air.

          "And this is why I don't trust you guys with the money," Celina facepalmed. Aang guilty apologized and the group continued down the port. Near one of the larger ships on the dock was a man soliciting customers.

          "Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come on by!" he shouted. Celina wanted to keep walking but the man spotted them and ran up. "Oh! You there! I can see by your clothing that you're world traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"

          "Sure! What are curios?" Aang asked which made the man pause for a second.

          "I'm not entirely sure, but we got'em!" he answered and then lead them into the large ship. Sokka, Katara, and Aang took instantly to looking around at the ship's wares while Celina stuck towards the entrance. They certainly had a lot of things but she couldn't shake the creepy feeling that hung in the air. That feeling increased when a man entered from a dark doorway with an iguana parrot perched on his shoulder. He was clearly the man in charge of everything on the ship.

          "I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur. That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be interested in bartering," the man said referring to Momo. His iguana parrot shrieked several times causing Momo to run to Celina, climbing up into her arms for protection.

          "Momo's not for sale," Aang stated defensively. Celina scratched behind the creature's ear while she quietly hummed, trying to calm him down.

          A gasp from Katara quickly brought Celina's attention to her sister who was holding a scroll. "Look at this! It's a waterbending scroll. Check out these crazy moves!" Katara gushed. Celina wandered over to see what her sister was talking about. The waterbending moves displayed in the scroll were things that she'd already figured out.

          "Where did you get a waterbending scroll?" Aang questioned.

          "Let's just say I got it up north at a most reasonable price. Free!" the man said, grabbing the scroll and placing it back amongst the other scrolls.

          "Wait a minute. Sea-loving traders with suspiciously acquired merchandise and pet reptile birds. You guys are pirate!" Sokka figured out.

          "We prefer to think of ourselves as high risk traders," the probable Pirate Captain told him.

          "So how much for the, uh, 'traded' scroll?" Katara asked, eyeing the waterbending scroll hungrily.

          "I've already got a buyer, a nobleman in the Earth Kingdom. Unless, of course, you kids have 200 gold pieces on ya right now," he told her.

          "Just let it go Katara. We don't need it," Celina said.

          "But maybe it can help me and Aang with learning waterbending. You're a great teacher, sis, but I think that Aang really needs it," Katara tried to argue with her. Celina quickly saw past the whole it's for Aang act. Katara just wanted the scroll for herself.

          "I know how to deal with these guys, Katara, pirates love to haggle," Aang told Katara. Taking his offer Katara reached into Celina's pocket and snatched their last remaining copper pieces.

          "Katara!" Celina protested but she'd already handed the money over to Aang who went off to try and haggle. Celina groaned, knowing that this wasn't going to go well.

          "What say you to the price of one copper piece!" Aang asked putting on a pirate accent.

          The Captain laughed at the ridiculous offer. "Hahaha! The price is 200 gold pieces. I don't haggle on items this rare."

          "Okay, two copper pieces!" Aang tried again.

          "It's not as amusing the second time, boy," the Captain glared.

          Celina had had enough and stormed up to Aang, snatching the copper pieces back. "That's enough. We don't need the scroll so just drop it. Now come on, let's get out of here," Celina scolded both Aang and Katara. As she led the group out of the ship she couldn't help but notice that Katara was shifting a bit.

          "Come one, Celina, I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection," Sokka whined.

          "I don't know guys. I think Celina was right about leaving. That place was starting to creep me out," Katara defended, which caused Celina to be suspicious. She was about to question her sister on the fast change of mind when the pirate who was soliciting them ran out across the deck.

          "Hey you, get back here!" he demanded. Following him were several other pirates, all armed and angry, who began to chase the gang. Celina cursed under her breath before they took off running. The ran around the marker turning this way and that trying to avoid the pirates. Celina and Katara did their best to slow the pirates down by waterbending ice onto the ground. Aang even helped by airbending a cart of cabbages at the pursuing pirates. Celina heard the salesman cry out over his lost cabbages. The chase continued until the pirates lead them to a dead end.

          "Now, who's gets to take the steel of my blade first?" the pirate barker asked sinisterly.

          "No thanks!" Aang replied and then airbended the pirates down. Taking action Celina gathered as much water as she could from around them and froze the pirates to the ground. The ice was thin and she knew that they didn't have much time before the pirates broke out. So she grabbed her siblings and Aang and took off. The gang didn't stop running until they made it back to their campsite next to the waterfall.

          "I used to kinda look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible," Aang admitted a bit out of breath.

          "I know, that's why I took this," Katara smiled, pulling out the waterbending scroll from her pocket. "Isn't it great?"

          "No wonder they were trying to hack us up. You stole their waterbending scroll," Sokka accused.

          "I prefer to think of it as high-risk trading," Katara said, repeating the Captain's words. "Sokka, where do you think they got it? They stole it from a waterbender."

          "It doesn't matter. You put all of us in danger when we're already on the run from the Fire Nation. All because you just needed to have a scroll of waterbending moves I could have taught you," Celina spoke up.

          "But these are real waterbending scrolls, not just some moves you came up with when you were practicing back in the South Pole. You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn waterbending," Katara argued with her.

          "I know how important it is. But I also know that's not why you took it," Celina told her. The two of them never really got into many arguments. Celina knew how her sister could get and didn't want to have Katara against her; Celina had plenty of people against her at the South Pole. But what Katara did was extremely selfish and she needed to call her sister out on it. Especially since that selfish mistake put more enemies on their tail.

          "What's done is done. We have it. We might as well learn from it," Aang interrupted, trying to break up the fight. Celina saw the smile spread across Katara's face now that she had someone on her side and eagerly took the scroll over to the water.

          "I just want to try this one move first and then it's all yours," Katara said. She handed it to Aang as she got into position. "'The single water whip'. Looks doable." Everyone watched as she raised a stream of water out of the river and tried to whip it around, only to hit herself in the forehead. Sokka burst into laughter.

          "What's so funny?" Katara asked peeved.

          "I'm sorry but you deserve that," Sokka said to her before turning to Aang. "You've been duped. She's only interested in teaching herself."

          "Aang will get his turn once I figure out the water whip!" Katara shouted.

          "You mean like this?" Celina suggested and then performed the move flawlessly without even a glance at the scroll. Aang was amazed while Katara looked even more pissed off. "It's all about shifting your weight through the stances. Your movements have to be as fluid as the water that you're trying to manipulate."

          "Will you PLEASE just shut your mouth! Believe it or not, you're not that great of a teacher! So why don't you leave us alone so that we can finally learn something!" Katara shouted angrily at her sister.

          "Katara!" Sokka scolded.

          "What?" Katara asked before turned and looking at Celina. Katara was immediately ashamed when she saw Celina trying to keep herself together. Both her hands curled into fists as Celina tried to not cry.

          "Omigosh, Celina, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me," Katara apologized.

          Celina held her hand up, stopping her from saying anything else. "Just… just leave it alone, Katara. Leave it alone," Celina said and then walked over to Appa, just wanting to be alone for a while. The sky bison seeing his friend upset nuzzled his face into her side and let out a comforting rumble. Momo ran over and climbed up onto her shoulder, joining in on the cuddle fest Celina giggled as a tear or two accidentally leaked out.

* * *

 

          Celina avoided Katara for the rest of the day and barely said a word to her when they did have to interact. When night fell Celina was having trouble falling asleep, so when Katara went and removed the waterbending scroll from Aang's bag she was the only one to notice. Celina waited until Katara was a good distance ahead before she decided to follow after her sister above in the trees. Her sister stopped by the river and began practicing. Celina sat up in the tree and watched as Katara continued to struggle to get the move, mainly because she was frustrated to begin with.

          "Shoot! Come on water, work with me here! Okay, Katara, shift your weight through the stances… ugh!" Katara talked to herself frustrated. Celina was beginning to feel sorry for Katara seeing her struggle like that. She'd have to talk to her about strengthening her waterbending later. Celina's attention was drawn somewhere else when she heard the grinding of metal. She looked over and saw Zuko and a bunch of pirates had arrived on the beach.

          "No, let go of me!" Katara shouted. Celina looked down and saw that her sister was being attacked by a pirate before successfully water whipping him off her. Unfortunately for Katara, she ran right into Zuko who held her wrists tight in his hands.

          "I'll save you from the pirates," he said to her.

          Celina just sat up in the tree and watched as Katara was tied up to a tree. There were too many people down there for her to successfully take out and save her sister. What she needed to do was just sit and wait for and Aang and Sokka to arrive to take them down. At least she'd have the element of surprise.

          "Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your brother," Zuko threatened.

          "Go jump in the river," Katara snapped back.

          "Try to understand, I need to capture him in order to restore something I've lost. My honor. Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something you lost," Zuko said trying to be reasonable before pulling out Katara's necklace. Celina's breath hitched, seeing the blue silk ribbon and stone.

          "My mother's necklace! How did you get that?" Katara exclaimed.

          "I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is," Zuko replied.

          "No!" Katara responded.

          "Enough of this necklace garbage. You promised the scroll!" the Pirate Captain walked forward angry.

          Zuko produced the scroll and lit a flame in his hand beneath it, causing the pirates to gasp and back up. "I wonder how much money this is worth? A lot apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here," Zuko instructed which the pirates sullenly agreed, heading into the woods.

          "Spirits," Celina cursed under her breath, hoping that Aang and Sokka wouldn't get caught.

          Her hopes were crushed almost a half hour later when the pirates returned with both Aang and Sokka, their hands tied up. The pirates stood opposite of Zuko and his man, closer towards the water. Celina took note of that for when she revealed herself and would go to attack.

          "Nice work," Zuko complemented them.

          "Aang, this is all my fault," Katara admitted.

          "No, Katara it isn't," Aang tried to make her feel better.

          "Yeah, it kind of is," Iroh said. Celina almost wanted to scold herself for agreeing with Zuko's uncle, but he was right and probably the nicest out of all the Fire Nation people that she's encountered.

          "Where's our sister?" Sokka demanded, causing looks of confusion to cross the pirates and the Fire Nation's faces. Everyone looked over at the tied up Katara then back at him.

          "What are you talking about? She's right there," Zuko pointed out.

          "Actually now that I think about it, we are missing the other girl," Iroh figured out. Celina took this as the best time to reveal herself.

          "Hiya!" she greeted from up in the tree. Everyone looked up, surprised to find her sitting in a tree. "You know you should really look up. Now, are you guys really planning on trading the Avatar for a silly little piece of paper?"

          "How did you know about that?" Zuko demanded to know.

          "I've been up in this tree since before you got here," Celina admitted.

          "Wow… she's good," Iroh confessed.

          "Wait, your friend is the Avatar?" the Pirate Captain asked looking over at Aang.

          "Sure is," Sokka joined in, seeing where his sister was going. "And I bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market then that fancy scroll."

          "Shut your mouth you Water Tribe peasants!" Zuko shouted.

          "Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid," the Pirate Captain told him. The pirates began to walk away with them but Zuko and his guards unleashed a torrent of flames. An all-out fight broke out between the pirates and Zuko and his men. Celina dropped from the tree and crept over to Katara. Bending a small amount of water she used it to slice the rope that had Katara bound to the tree.

          Katara turned around and smiled widely at her sister, enveloping her in a hug. "Celina! Thank you so much. I… I'm sorry for what I've said to you. You're an amazing waterbender," Katara apologized.

          "Well, I had years to practice. It's not like I got the moves down all in one day," Celina replied.

          "Maybe… maybe I can learn more. If you'd teach me?" Katara said. The fight going on behind them got louder, causing the girls to remember where they were.

          "How about we get out of here and then focus on lessons," Celina suggested. Katara nodded and the sisters ran towards the boat that they saw the pirates arrive on. The pirates certainly beached the boat which was a problem. As Celina was figuring out what to do Aang and Sokka ran up to them.

          "Katara! Celina! You're okay!" Aang smiled, slightly shouting over the noise of the fighting going on several feet away.

          "We need to get this boat back into the water so that we can get out of here!" Katara told them.

          "We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship," Sokka noted.

          "Or, a couple waterbenders," Celina suggested looking at both Aang and Katara who smiled in response. The three of them got into position and pushed and pulled the river, slowing raising the water level until the ship began to float. "Everybody in!"

          The gang quickly boarded the boat and sailed off away from the fighting pirates and Fire Nation soldiers. Sokka took control of the wheel as he steered them away. Unfortunately, they didn't get far before they saw the pirates on their tail with Zuko's boat.

          "Sokka! Can't you make it go any faster?" Aang called out to him.

          "I don't know how. This thing wasn't made by the Water Tribe," Sokka responded. Celina and Aang stood ready to fight as pirates began to board the ship. Both her and Aang bended a wave to wash several of the pirates overboard while Katara gained the confidence and water whipped another one off the boat.

          "You're getting better," Celina smiled proudly.

          "I couldn't have done it without your help!" Katara replied happily. That happiness ended when they noticed that the boat was heading straight towards a waterfall. Thinking fast Aang pulled out the whistle that he bought earlier and blew it for nothing to happen.

          "Have you lost your mind? This is no time for flute practice!" Sokka yelled at him. Celina, Katara, and Aang looked over the railing that the approaching waterfall.

          "We can stop the boat! We can push and pull the water!" Katara said to them. Aang nodded while Celina said she'd let them handle it while she stayed on defense for any other pirates that boarded them. Aang and Katara successfully bended the water causing the ship to turn a 90 degree angle at the lip of the waterfall. "It's working! It's slowing down!"

          "That's great but we kinda have another problem," Celina told them. The other ship rammed into them, pushing their boat over the edge of the falls. Celina let out a scream as the four of them began to fall. She shed some tears of relief however when Appa swooped in and caught the four of them in his saddle, flying off just before the boat hit him.

          "I never thought I'd say it but thank you for buying that bison whistle," Celina said to Aang, giving him a hug.

          "Yeah, we owe ya one," Sokka added. Appa grunted at them for their thanks and flew off into the horizon.

          "Aang, I already apologized to Celina but you deserve one as well. You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I got so competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry," Katara apologized to him.

          "That's okay, Katara," Aang accepted.

          "Besides, who needs that stupid scroll anyway when we have a great teacher like Celina," Katara said and then slung an arm around her sister.

          "Aw, guys," Celina blushed. Katara and Aang enveloped her in a full on hug which she happily embraced. With Katara and Aang distracted Sokka showed her a glimpse of the waterbending scroll that was in his bag and held a finger up to her mouth, signaling for her to not tell them. Celina nodded. The moment was perfect already; she didn't need to ruin it by telling them that they had the scroll still. Besides, that just might encourage her sister to steal from pirates again and they didn't need any more of that.


	9. Jet

          The gang landed in a forest, taking a break from all their traveling. Celina stood by Appa, running her fingers through his fur and humming to comfort the tired bison. Things had been going well for a little while before the gang heard a yowl from Momo somewhere in the forest. Celina couldn't help but sigh, they just had to find trouble. After searching around the forest the gang managed to find Momo caught up in a metal trap. Aang used his airbending to fly up into the trees and lowered down the trap that Momo was trapped in. The Water Tribe siblings eased the contraption to the ground and opened it to free the lemur. Momo hurried scurried onto Celina's shoulder and lick her cheek in gratitude. The howling from the hog monkeys trapped in a similar situation hit Aang's soft spot.

          "This is gonna take forever," Sokka moaned and then used his boomerang to knock down the cages. With the hog monkeys loose, they ran off into the woods.

          "That works," Aang commented when he jumped down.

          "These are Fire Nation traps, you can tell from the metalwork," Sokka observed, looking over the traps. "We'd better pack up camp, and get moving." Celina couldn't help but sigh. She knew that her brother was right but they'd just got there.

          They made their way back to where they left Appa and began packing up. As they were finishing up packing Sokka noticed Aang sitting in the driver's seat and was not too pleased.

          "Ah-ah, no flying this time," Sokka scolded.

          "What?" Katara asked.

          "Why wouldn't we fly?" Aang questioned confused.

          "Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa. He's just too noticeable," Sokka explained.

          "He does have a point," Celina admitted.

          "What! Appa's not noticeable!" Katara argued.

          "He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head. It's kinda hard to miss him!" Sokka told her. Appa turned and groaned at Sokka, not pleased with his comment about him.

          "Sokka's just jealous 'cause he doesn't have an arrow," Aang said to Appa.

          "And what a nice arrow it is," Celina cooed. Appa grumbled in response, cuddling up next to her side. Celina giggled in response.

          "I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk," Sokka said.

          "Who made you the boss?" Katara questioned.

          "I'm not the boss, I'm the leader," Sokka told her.

          "You're the leader? But your voice still cracks!" Katara teased him.

          "I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior. So I'm the leader!" Sokka proclaimed.

          "Wait, wait, woah. Back up. Who's the oldest again?" Celina questioned. Sokka looked at her sheepishly before muttering that she was. "That's right."

          "Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader? I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl. I mean look at Celina, she kissed Haru and it's not like she's bossing everyone around," Katara teased Sokka.

          Celina tensed when her sister brought up her first kiss. "Can we not talk about my first kiss?" she shrunk, trying to hide herself into Appa's fur.

          "I… I've kissed a girl. You just haven't met her," Sokka stuttered.

          "Who? Gran Gran? I've met Gran Gran," Katara continued.

          "No… besides Gran Gran. Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot and a leader has to trust his instincts," Sokka pushed aside.

          "Okay, we'll try it your way, oh Wise Leader," Katara submitted sarcastically. Aang jumped down from on top of Appa, pulling a knapsack on his back, and stood before them looking excited.

          "Who knows? Walking might be fun," Aang smiled.

* * *

 

          The gang had been walking through the forest for a bit over ten minutes and Aang quickly discovered that his earlier hopes were false. He complained to Katara about it as they walked side by side. Celina walked up front with Sokka. While she wished she was in the back with the animals but she felt bad for Sokka, Katara and Aang were really digging into him.

          "Walking stinks! How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?" Aang complained.

          "I don't know Aang. Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts, they seem to know everything," Katara mocked.

          "Ha ha, very funny," Sokka seethed.

          "That's enough you guys," Celina told them.

          "I'm tired of carrying this pack," Aang continued complaining.

          "You know who you should ask to carry it for a while? Sokka's instincts!" Katara snarked.

          "That's a great idea! Hey, Sokka's Instincts, would you mind…"

          "Okay, okay I get it! Look, guys, I'm tired too. But the important thing is that we're safe from the… Fire… Nation," Sokka told them but quickly shut up when he pushed aside the branches. They walked right into a clearing where the Fire Nation had an encampment. The soldiers head snapped towards them when they entered.

          "This isn't going to be good," Celina muttered to herself. The gang tried to run but the Fire Nation soldiers blocked off their exit by setting the bushes behind them aflame. They became surrounded as soldiers approached. The four of them stood back to back and took up defense, ready to fight.

          "If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you," Sokka said to the soldiers.

          "What are you doing?" Katara whispered towards him.

          "Bluffing?" Sokka said uncertain. The captain of the Fire Nation soldiers smiled at Sokka trying to scare them.

          "You? Promise not to hurt us?" he almost laughed. There was a quick zip and thud and the Captain looked around surprised for a moment before collapsing face first on the ground.

          "Nice work, Sokka! How'd you do that?" Aang asked impressed.

          "Uh… instinct?" Sokka answered unsure.

          "Look!" Katara pointed up towards the trees.

          The gang looked up to see a figure standing on a massive branch of a nearby tree. The figure proceeded to draw two blades out from behind his back. He used the weapons to slings himself off the branch and towards the camp. The stranger, who looked around Celina and Sokka's age, kicked two of the soldiers away from the gang. The boy continued, using his blades to send a pair of soldiers head over heels before sending them through the air. The soldiers ended up in a heap on top of the Fire Nation Captain. The gang looked at the pile of soldiers that this mystery boy was defeating in complete surprise. Celina looked over at her siblings to see that Katara was completely in awe of this boy while Sokka was in disbelief.

          "They're in the trees!" a soldier shouted. A small boy proceeded to drop down from the trees onto the soldier and spun his helmet around, blinding him. Three swordsmen went to react but were disarmed from by several arrows that came from an archer up in the trees. The fighting continued on his people dropping from the trees to fight off the Fire Nation soldiers. The gang began fighting as well, Aang using his airbending, Celina and Katara waterbending, and Sokka going at soldiers with his boomerang.

          Celina was hard at work fighting off soldiers with water whips when she noticed a soldier sneaking up behind the boy with the hook blades, sword in hand ready to pounce. Thinking quickly she used her waterbending to grab his sword and took it away from him. The boy turned around to see Celina catch the sword and then used a water whip to take the soldier out. Celina expected the boy to give her a simple thank you nod and continue fighting but he did something different. Instead, the boy gave her a smile and a wink before thanking her for saving him, his eyes looking at her hungrily. Celina shifted uncomfortably at the attention he was giving her before giving him a confused, simple nod and got back to the fight at hand. Within another ten minutes, the gang and the people from the trees managed to get the Fire Nation soldiers to flee. She turned around to see that the boy was standing in front of Katara, giving her the same smile and look that he gave Celina earlier. She did not like what his guy was thinking and it looked like Katara was falling for it.

          "You just took out a whole army almost single handed!" Aang said in awe, walking up to the boy.

          "Army? Pfft. There were only like, twenty guys," Sokka scoffed, clearly annoyed from having soldiers beaten before he could beat them himself.

          "My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters," the boy introduced and then went on to introduce his Freedom Fighters. "Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak." Celina looked over his crew. Sneers was weaponless, eating from one of the Fire Nation soldier's bowls. Longshot was the archer who remained mainly in the trees. She found his name fitting. Smellerbee had red face paint and a knife between her teeth. The Duke was the smallest of the Freedom Fighters holding onto a quarterstaff. Aang didn't seem to notice this as he walked over to the Duke and Pipsqueak.

          "Pipsqueak, that's a funny name," he said addressing the Duke.

          "You think my name is funny?" Pipsqueak asked towering over Aang.

          "It's hilarious," Aang replied. Him, Pipsqueak, and the Duke burst into laughter. Celina suppressed a laugh when Pipsqueak unintentionally knocked Aang onto the ground.

          "Um… thanks for saving us Jet. We were lucky you were there," Katara thanked.

          "I should be thanking you. We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning. We just needed the right distraction and then you guys stumbled in," Jet replied.

          "We were relying on instincts," Katara said between her teeth.

          "You'll get yourself killed doing that," Jet told her.

          Celina looked over at Sokka who clearly heard Katara and Jet's conversation. "You didn't know, Sokka. Everyone makes mistakes," she tried to console her brother, putting a hand on his shoulder. Sokka let out a frustrated sigh and sulked off. Celina watched him go off, worried about him. Seeing that she was alone Jet decided to walk up to Celina.

          "Hi there. I wanted to thank you for saving me back there. It was really impressive. You're an amazing waterbender," he almost purred, leaning close to her. Spirits he made her uncomfortable. Celina looked him up and down before pushing him back a bit.

          "You're welcome, and thanks," Celina replied, trying to hide her nervousness.

          "Hey Jet! These barrels are filled with blasting jelly," the Duke called out after opening a barrel of green goo.

          "That's a great score," Jet smiled.

          "And these boxes are filled with jelly candy!" Pipsqueak smiled, holding up a large crate.

          "Also good. Let's not get those mixed up," Jet replied.

          "We'll take the stuff back to the hideout," Pipsqueak told Jet as him, the Duke, and Sneers load up a wagon.

          "You guys have a hideout?" Aang asked.

          "You wanna see it?" Jet offered, looking over at Celina.

          Katara slid up to Jet eagerly. "Yes we wanna see it!" she practically begged. Jet turned his attention to her and gave her a self-assured smile before leading the gang to his secret base. They came to the stop at the base of a tree.

          "We're here," Jet announced.

          "Where… there's nothing here!" Sokka

          "Hold this," Jet said and then handed Sokka a rope with a loop on the end of it. The loop ended up around Sokka's wrist and without warning, he was pulled up by his arms into the tree canopy.

          "Aang?" Jet asked offering him a rope.

          "I'll get up on my own," Aang kindly declined and airbended himself up.

          "I'll take that though," Celina said and took the rope from Jet.

          "I can help you if you'd like," Jet tried to offer but Celina quickly shot him down.

          "No, no. I think it got it," Celina denied. She slid the loop around her wrist and held on as the rope pulled her up into the treetops. Once she reached a wooden platform she released the rope, landing on the platform. Celina looked around for her brother and found him lying on the ground. She walked over to Sokka and helped him up off the ground. "Are you okay? Anything injured?"

          "No, just my pride," Sokka answered. Celina gave him a small smile before looking over to see that Katara and Jet made it onto the platform and were talking to Smellerbee. Celina and Sokka caught up with them as they were lead across a bridge.

          "Why does the Fire Nation want to find you?" Katara asked Jet.

          "I guess you could say I've been causing them a little trouble. See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back," Jet answered.

          "We've been ambushin' their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with 'em," Pipsqueak explained.

          "One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town," Jet told them.

          "That's so brave," Katara gushed.

          "Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a treehouse," Sokka replied sarcastically. Celina lightly elbowed him in the shoulder for being rude. Sure she didn't exactly like Jet that much but him and his Freedom Fighters took out the Fire Nation encampment.

          "So, you all live here?" Celina asked, trying to be polite and move the conversation.

          "That's right. Longshot over there? His town got burned down by the Fire Nation. And we found the Duke trying to steal our food I don't think he ever really had a home," Jet answered, looking at her with that self-assured smile that made her uncomfortable.

          "What about you?" Katara asked. Jet stopped in his tracks, causing Katara to stop too. The rest of the group walked on though Celina still heard what they were talking about.

          "Fire Nation killed my parents. I was only eight years old. That day changed me forever," Jet told her.

          "I lost my mother to the Fire Nation," Katara informed him sadly.

          "I'm so sorry, Katara," he apologized.

* * *

 

          The sky darkened into night as the gang joined Jet and his Freedom Fighters for dinner in their treehouse. Glowing lanterns were scattered across the tree branches. Sentries kept watch on upper platforms. Celina was happily enjoying her food, trying to get the recipe out of the cook sitting next to her. That was interrupted however when Jet stepped onto the table to speak.

          "Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine. I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face when the Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey. Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right." The Freedom Fighters booed. "Or maybe… they are dead wrong." Jet's Freedom Fighter erupted into applause as Jet bathed in the limelight. He stepped down and sat himself down between Sokka and Katara.

          "Hey Jet, nice speech," Katara said.

          "Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you, your sister, and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today," Jet complimented.

          "Well, he's great. He's the Avatar. And Celina's been practicing for years. She'd even started teaching the both of us waterbending. I could use some more training before I reach her level though," Katara blushed.

          "She must be a wonderful teacher." Jet looked over at Celina, causing her to shift under his gaze. "But the Avatar huh? Very nice."

          "Thanks, Jet," Aang smiled.

          "Unfortunately we have to leave tonight," Sokka told him and began to leave.

          "Sokka, you're kidding me! I needed you on an important mission tomorrow," Jet said.

          Sokka stopped in his tracks and turned back curious. "What mission?" Sokka asked. Celina sighed, knowing that Sokka was going to go with the mission even though she wished that they actually left. There was something up with Jet that made her uncomfortable. She didn't like the way he treated Sokka and how he flirted with herself and Katara, paying more attention to Celina though Katara seemed to be falling harder.

          "Jet's so nice don't you think?" Katara asked Celina as they settled into bed that night.

          "He's alright," Celina commented.

          "How can you say that? He's so kind and brave, wanting to stop the Fire Nation and all. And handsome as well," Katara gushed.

          Oh, Celina did not like where this was going. "Katara, be careful around him. I don't want you to have your heart broken," she told her sister.

          "Jet would never hurt me," Katara dismissed and settled in for the night.

* * *

 

          The next day Celina refused to stay in the treehouse and instead decided to explore the forest with Momo. Animals always calmed her down and after spending a night in Jet's hideout she needed some calming down. Celina's calming walk through the forest ended however when she heard frightened cries.

          "Oh… please let me go… have mercy…," what sounded like an older man begged. Celina was about to run to find the man in trouble when the next voice stopped her.

          "Does the Fire Nation let people go?! Does the Fire Nation have mercy?!" Jet shouted. Hearing his voice Celina got down, hiding herself and Momo in a bush where she wouldn't be spotted, even from the trees.

          "Jet, he's just an old man!" Sokka protested.

          "He's Fire Nation! Search him!"

          "But he's not hurting anyone!"

          "Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother? Remember why you fight!"

          "This doesn't feel right."

          "It's what has to be done. Now let's get outta here."

          Celina waited until Jet and his crew were gone before coming out from her hiding spot. She let out a gasp and ran over to the old man that was lying on the ground. Celina gently helped him to his feet.

          "Are you alright, sir?" she asked concerned.

          "I'll be fine once I get to my village. Thank you, young lady," the old man thanked. Leaning against Celina for support.

          "Let me help you back," Celina offered.

          "Such a kind girl," the old man commented as they began to his village.

          He went on to tell Celina that Jet and his men ambushed him and that Jet was about to bet the old man before Sokka stepped in and stopped him. Celina told the man that she'd been strolling through the forest when she found him. Her story wasn't false but she decided to leave out the whole I'm here with the Avatar. It was late in the afternoon when Celina and the old man arrived at his village. Some of the women came forward to check out if the old man had any injuries. Guards looked at Celina suspicious at first but thanked her for helping the old man back to the village. The old man shook her hand and wished that he had something to give her in thanks but Celina brushed it off, saying that he didn't need to. He continued to offer her to at least stay for dinner but Celina declined, saying that she needed to get back to her siblings.

          Night had fallen when Celina was close to being back at Jet's secret treehouse. Her feet were tired from walking so much that day and she was excited to get to bed. Celina paused for a small break when she saw Jet and a few of his Freedom Fighters pulling a wagon of the blasting jelly they took from the Fire Nation camp. This couldn't be good. Using the tactic that had been working for her twice, Celina climbed a tree. She stayed hidden amongst the darkened leaves as she listened to what they were talking about. They looked down at the dam below them.

          "Now listen, you are not to blow the dam until I give the signal. If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive," Jet said. Celina suppressed a gasp, not wanting to reveal herself.

          "But what about the people in the town? Won't they get wiped out too?" the Duke asked.

          "Look, Duke, that's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation," Jet told him. Celina's hands tightened into fists while Jet turned to Longshot. "Now don't blow the dam until I give the signal. Got it?"

          Longshot nodded and Celina was gonna go off to tell her siblings and Aang when Pipsqueak dragged her brother out of some bushed by his topknot. Smellerbee instantly had a knife to his throat. "Where do you think you're going, ponytail," she sneered.

          "Sokka. I'm glad you decided to join us," Jet said to him.

          "I heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town," Sokka admitted. Celina wished she could jump down there and slap him. Never tell the evil person that you know what they're planning.

          "Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation," Jet told him.

          "There are people living there Jet, mothers and fathers and children."

          "We can't win without making some sacrifices."

          "You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire! And that explains why you're livid that Celina's missing. You wanted her to help them fill the reserve."

          "Because they don't understand the demands of war. Not like you and I do. And wouldn't you be livid about your sister missing? The Fire Nation could have gotten to her."

          "I do understand. I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want. And you've been messing with my sisters and Aang's mind to try and get what you want."

          "I was hoping you'd have an open mind, but I can see you've made your choice."

          "I can't let you warn Katara and Aang. Take him for a walk. A long walk," Jet instructed to Pipsqueak and Smellerbee.

          "You can't do this!" Sokka protested.

          "Cheer up, Sokka. We're gonna win a great victory against the Fire Nation today," Jet smiled.

          All Celina could do was watch as her brother was taken away. Thoughts ran through her head. She needed to do something but what? Tell Aang and Katara? It might be for nothing, Jet already has they tricked on his side. Go after Sokka? But what about the village? She needed to help the village. Making up her mind Celina made her way to where Appa was. She had little energy left from walking to the village and back and she wasn't sure if she'd make it back there in time. But she could make it to Appa, and Appa can get to the village faster than she could.

          The sky bison grumbled when he shall the oldest Water Tribe sibling approach him. Celina put a finger up to her mouth and shushed him. There was no way that she wanted to be caught by Jet's Freedom Fighters, otherwise, she'd be going on a long walk like Sokka was. Climbing up onto Appa, Celina whispered yip yip and took off towards the village. It was morning when she landed Appa off somewhere hidden and safe and headed towards the village.

          The guards were surprised to see her again but they were even more surprised when she told them that everyone needed to evacuate the village.

          "What do you mean we have to evacuate the village?" a guard asked in disbelief.

          "Jet and his Freedom Fighters… when I was heading back to my family I saw them with barrels of blasting jelly. They said they're planning to blow up the dam," Celina explained.

          "How can we trust her?" another guard whispered to the first.

          "Well, she helped the old man back after he was attacked by them," the guard reminded her.

          "Hey! You guys need to evacuate!" a familiar voice shouted. Celina turned to see Sokka running towards the village.

          "Sokka!" she exclaimed and hugged her brother. "You escaped!"

          "What are you doing here?" Sokka asked.

          "I saw Jet and the Freedom Fighters when I was returning last night. I heard what they were planning. So I ran to warn the village," Celina explained.

          "So why should we trust you?" the guard asked.

          "Because he stopped Jet from harming me," the old man from the other day answered. "While this one saved me by helping me back to the village, this young man stopped him from harming me. We should listen to them."

          The guards thought it over for a moment before nodded. It was decided the village would be evacuated. Sokka and Celina stayed around and helped the villagers gather some things and escort them to a safe place. Once everyone was safe Celina and Sokka ran towards Appa and headed back towards the hideout to confront Jet. They were just reaching the hideout when they discovered that Aang and Katara had beat them to it with Jet frozen to a tree and everything.

          "All those people… Jet you monster!" Katara shouted.

          "This was a victory, Katara. Remember that. The Fire Nation is gone and this valet will be safe," Jet told her.

          "It will be safe, without you," Celina said and flew Appa up, revealing herself and Sokka.

          "Celina! Sokka!" Katara cried.

          "We warned the villagers of your plan just in time," Sokka informed them.

          "What!" Jet exclaimed.

          "I was walking through the forest yesterday when I came across an old man who had just been attacked. The one you attacked. I helped him back to the village where he and the villagers happy thanked me for and headed back only to hear what you were planning. For someone who lives in treehouses, you're not very good at making sure no one is listening from above. So I went and warned them. Sokka's appearance only helped once the old man explained that he stopped you from harming him," Celina explained.

          "You fools! We could've freed this valley!" Jet growled.

          "Who would be free? Everyone would be dead," Sokka spat.

          "You traitors!" Jet accused.

          "No, Jet. You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people," Sokka told him.

          "Katara, help me," Jet begged.

          "Goodbye Jet," Katara turned away. Celina, seeing her sister almost breaking down into tears, got off of Appa and stormed right up to the frozen Jet. Channeling all the anger she felt for him Celina punched him in the face.

          "That is for messing with my sister's emotions, asshole," she snarled and got back onto Appa with Aang and Katara. As they flew off Katara fell into Celina's arms and began to cry. Celina enveloped her in a hug and let her cry. Heartbreak was never pretty.


	10. The Great Divide

          Celina was surprised when Aang asked if he could join her to gather food but gave him a smile and said yes. The young airbender was excited as the two of them wandered off in search of food, leaving Sokka and Katara to set up the tent and the campfire. Aang would ask where Celina tended to find the food she explained how she'd stop and watch, paying attention to which trees and bushes animals would and wouldn't go. Watching how she went to work, Aang was surprised to see how close she was able to get to animals.

          "Animals really seem to like you," he commented. "It's like you're the animal whisperer or something. Sometimes I think that Appa and Momo like you better than me."

          Celina chuckled as she gathered food. "Yes well, I've always gotten along better with animals. You seem to be good with them as well."

          "Yeah, must be a spirit thing," Aang said, causing both of them to laugh. There was a short pause before Aang decided to ask her something that been on his mind. "So… have you've been able to see spirits your whole life?"

          "I… I guess. It would explain why people think I've been talking to imaginary beings. It's nice to know that I'm not a crazy as people said," Celina told him.

          "People actually said that?" Aang asked surprised.

          "People say a lot of things," Celina answered sadly. "There's a reason I prefer animals to people."

          "Like what?" Aang asked.

          "'Kya, you should really watch that girl of yours. I think she may be touched.' 'What a freak.' 'Stay away from Celina, kids, I don't want you catching her crazy.' 'Maybe her staying out in the blizzard messed with her head. They should have just left her out in the cold'," Celina repeated, remembering the things people would try to whisper or flat out say to her face.

          "Celina, I'm so sorry," Aang apologized.

          "It's not your fault," Celina muttered and continued collecting food. "Besides, I learned quickly to keep quiet and stay away. I left the village more, went out exploring, hung out with my 'imaginary friends' without torment, and practiced my waterbending."

          "You are so strong," Aang commented.

          "No I'm not," Celina scoffed.

          "Yes you are. You've gone through so much and yet here you are, traveling with me and beating Fire Nation soldier's butts. I mean, you held your own with Zuko back at Roku's temple. That was amazing," Aang complimented.

          Celina couldn't help but blush. "Thanks, Aang."

          "Spirit Buddies?" Aang suggested.

          "Spirit Buddies," Celina smiled. "Come on, I think we have enough food. We should head back to camp."

          When they arrived back at the campsite Celina noticed that there was no fire and that the tent had fallen down. Katara and Sokka stood far away from each other. Celina sighed, recognizing the argument that her siblings must have had from their crossed arms and sullen expressions.

          "Okay, we got the grub if you guys got the…" Aang announced when he and Celina got back but paused when they saw Sokka and Katara turned away from each other. "Hey, where's the campfire? And what happened to the tent?"

          "Why don't you ask Miss Know It All? Queen of the Twigs!" Sokka snapped.

          "Oh yeah? Well, you're Mister Lazy Bum, King of the Tents!" Katara shouted and proceeded to turn around and throw a twig at the back of Sokka's head. Sokka whipped around to face her, a scowl present on his face.

          "Okay, guys. Why don't you two switch jobs?" Celina suggested, trying to defuse the situation. Sokka and Katara agreed and went off to do the jobs, still fuming at each other. Celina sighed before turning to Aang. "I hate it when they get like this. I always end up playing mediator."

          "Maybe I can try next time. I am the Avatar after all, settling feuds and making peace is kinda my job," Aang offered.

          "Be my guest," Celina said. "Now if you excuse me I've got dinner to whip up."

* * *

          The next day the gang gathered their things together to head out and managed to make their way towards the Great Divide, a grand canyon. Everyone stared at it amazed.

          "Wow! I could just stare at it forever," Katara sighed.

          "Okay, I've seen enough," Sokka said unimpressed.

          "How can you not be fascinated, Sokka? This is the largest canyon in the entire world," Katara asked annoyed.

          "Then I'm sure we'll be able to see it very clearly from the air while we fly away," Sokka replied, grabbing hold of Appa's reigns, obviously ready to leave. Suddenly a scout appeared in an ornate white robe and rushed past Sokka, rudely pushing him out of the way.

          "Hey! If you're looking for the Canyon Guide, I was here first!" he said aggressively.

          "Ooooo… Canyon Guide. Sounds informative," Katara noted.

          "Believe me, he's more than a tour guide, he's an earthbender. And the only way in and out of the canyon is with his help. And he's taken' MY tribe across next!" the scout explained while Sokka mocked him.

          "Calm down, we know you're next," Sokka told him.

          "You wouldn't be calm if the Fire Nation destroyed YOUR home and forced YOU to flee. My whole tribe has to walk thousands of miles to the capital city of Ba Sing Se!" the scout said, pointing at Sokka.

          "You're a refugee," Celina noted.

          "Humph. Tell me somethin' I don't know," the scout scoffed.

          "Jeez, no need to be rude," Celina muttered.

          In the distance they saw a mass of people approaching, they were all dressed in animal skins and looked unkempt. The opposite compared to the clean and tidy look of the scout. Katara was foolish enough to ask if it was his tribe to which the scout snapped at her for.

          "That's the Zhang tribe. A bunch of low-life thieves. They've been the enemies of my tribe for 100 years," he explained and then shouted at the Zhang tribe. "Hey, Zhangs! I'm savin' a spot for my tribe so don't even THINK of stealing it!"

          A huge Zhang woman walked up to the scout menacingly. It was clear to the gang that this was the leader of the Zhang Tribe. "Where are the rest of the Gan Jin? Still tidying up their campsite?" she growled.

          "Yes! But they sent me ahead of them to hold a spot," the scout told her, not backing down.

          "I didn't know the Canyon Guide took reservations," the Zhang Leader admitted.

          "Heh! Of course, you didn't. That's the ignorance I'd expect from a messy Zhang! So unorganized and ill prepared for a journey," the scout sneered.

          The entire Zhang Tribe began to grumble loudly at the scout's comment. An angry mob was about to form. This wouldn't be good. The mob was dispelled by the sound of moving earth. Everyone looked over to see rocks picked up and tossed aside by an old man in a straw hat and green clothing. He must have been the Canyon Guide.

          "Sorry about the wait youngsters," he grumbled. "Who's ready to cross this here canyon?"

          "Um… on of them I think," Katara pointed to the Zhang Tribe and the Gan Jin scout.

          The scout was the first to run up to him. "I was here first! My party's on their way!" the scout said.

          "I can't guide people who aren't here," the Canyon Guide told him.

          "Guess you guys'll have to make the trip tomorrow," the Zhang Leader mocked.

          The scout's eyes twitched in anger before he saw his tribe members approaching to which he happily alerted the Canyon Guide to. The Gan Jin walked towards them in a stately order. They were all dress elegantly and wore formal expressions on their faces. It was clear to Celina how these two tribes could clash.

          The Zhang Leader did not look pleased by their appearance. "You're not seriously going to cave into these spoiled Gan Jins! I mean, we're refugees too! And we've got sick people that need shelter," she said, pointing a finger at the Canyon Guide.

          "I… uh… well…" the Canyon Guide stuttered, not knowing what to do.

          "We've got old people who are weary of traveling," the scout told him.

          "Sick people get priority over old people," the Zhang Leader snapped at him.

          "Maybe you Zhang's wouldn't have so many sick people if you weren't such slobs," a white haired man said stepping up from the Gan Jin. He must have been their leader.

          "If you Gan Jins weren't so clean maybe you wouldn't live to be so old," the Zhang Leader snapped.

          "I could smell your stink a mile away." The Gan Jin Leader insulted.

          "Well, Aang, ready to put your peacemaking skill to the test?" Celina asked the young airbender.

          "I… don't know. A fight over chores is one thing. These people have been feuding for 100 years," Aang admitted doubtful.

          Unfortunately for him Katara wasn't waiting and walked forward to address the two tribes. "Everyone listen up! This is the Avatar! And if you give him a chance, I'm sure he can come up with a compromise that will make everyone happy," she told them. The two tribes looked at Aang for a moment.

          "Uh… you could share the earthbender and travel together?" Aang suggested.

          "Absolutely not! We'd rather be taken by the Fire Nation than travel with those stinking thieves," the Gan Jin Leader refused.

          "We wouldn't travel with you pompous fools anyway!" the Zhang Leader declared.

          "I am not pompous!" the Gan Jin Leader said pompously. Pandemonium broke out between the two tribes as they began to yell at each other. Celina could see the anger on Aang's face build up until he exploded.

          "Alright! Here's the deal! We're all going down together and Appa here will fly your sick and elderly across. Does that seem fair?" Aang shouted.

          The two leaders begrudgingly nod, causing Aang to smile a bit. He turned to Celina. "How was that, Celina?" he asked.

          "Well, typically I wouldn't condone shouting when trying to work things out, but you are dealing with feuding tribes, not feuding siblings. So good job," Celina answered him.

          For the next hour, the gang helped the elderly and sick on top of Appa's saddle. The two groups eyed each other suspiciously, sitting as far away from each other as possible. Celina watched as Aang lovingly pet Appa, separating was going to be hard for them both, even if it was only for a day or so.

          "Sorry, Appa. You'll have to do this on your own," Aang told him. Appa grunted in response.

          "This feuding tribe stuff is serious business. Are you sure it's a good idea getting involved in this?" Sokka asked.

          "To tell the truth, I'm not sure. But when have I ever been?" Aang answered.

          "He's the Avatar, Sokka. Making peace between people is his job," Katara said.

          "His job's gonna make us cross this whole thing on foot, isn't it?" Sokka slumped in despair.

          "Okay, now comes the bad news. No food allowed in the canyon. It attracts dangerous predators," the Canyon Guide told everyone. The tribes were clearly upset about having to go without food.

          "No food! This is ridiculous!" the Gan Jin Leader exclaimed.

          "Aww, you babies can go a day without food. Would you rather be hungry… or dead?" the Zhang Leader mocked.

          The Canyon Guide raised a pillar of stone underneath him, towering over everyone, and cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Now, we're headin' down in 10 minutes. All food better be in your gut or in the garbage!"

          Celina stood and watched as the tribes got rid of their food. The Zhang were quick to whip various bits of food out of their tunics and began eating sloppily. Celina turned and looked at the Gan Jin who were eating their food all daintily with chopsticks, stopping every now and then to dab their mouth with a white napkin. She thought both of them looked ridiculous. Aang took this time to send Appa off.

          "Appa's gonna take good care of you until we get there," Aang said to the Zhang and Gan Jin passengers before turning to Appa. "See ya on the other side, buddy. Yip yip!"

          Appa grunted and then flew off towards the other side of the canyon. Aang and Celina took a moment to watch him go. Now that everyone was ready the Canyon Guide whirled around and with a grunt earthbended a path into the canyon. Everyone was off, following the Canyon Guide into the Great Divide.

          "Nice bending!" Aang complemented.

          "The job's much more than bending, kid. Folks want information," the Canyon Guide told him before stopping to address the crowd. "Many of you are probably wondering how canyons are formed. Experts tell us this canyon was most likely carved into the ground by Earth Spirits who were angry at local farmers for not offering them a proper sacrifice."

          Sokka and Katara looked over at each other, probably remembering the last time the group ran into a spirit. People gasped and looked up at the sound of rumbling, happening from a rock slide beginning above. The rocks came down but were bent away by the Canyon Guide. He laughed, saying that the spirits were still angry and that he hoped everyone brought sacrifices. Sokka, Katara, and Aang looked at Celina a bit worried.

          She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "There aren't any spirits around here guys," she told them. Sokka and Katara looked revealed while Aang gave her a thumbs up. The group continued walking and they soon made it to the canyon floor.

          "Okay, everyone stand clear of the wall," the Canyon Guide told them and then earthbended a rock outcropping. He took that and threw it at the bridge he created earlier, destroying it.

          "Why'd you do that?" Aang asked.

          "These people are fleeing from the Fire Nation, aren't they? I gotta make sure we can't be followed. We'll be safe now," the Canyon Guide answered.

          If only that were the case. A massive insect shaped silhouette appeared behind the Canyon Guide, hiding in the dust from the destroyed bridge. It's pincer emerged and picked up the Canyon Guide who screamed. Aang airbended the dust way to reveal the monster, a black insect creature with four legs and red eyes.

          "We gotta help him!" Sokka cried. Sokka threw his boomerang which struck the beast on its head. The monster proceeded to dropped the Canyon Guide and rush after Sokka. He ran away towards a rock outcropping. "Okay… now you gotta help me!"

          Katara was the first on to respond, opening up her water skin and sent a water whip the creatures way. It smacked the creature but had little effect except for making the creature mad. Aang headed towards it next, shooting a blast of air at the monster. It got blown backward but charged at them again. Celina stepped up to the plate to help Aang. She bended some water from her waterskin and created some sharp icicles, pointing them right at the creature. Before she could fire them off though, the creature stopped and stared at her for a minute before reluctantly backing up onto the cavern wall and hid in a crevice.

          "Nice job, Spirit Buddy," Aang, cried. Celina gave him a small, I-don't-know-what-happened-but-I'm-glad-it's-gone, smile before running towards the Canyon Guide with Katara. It was clear that he was hurt. "What was that?"

          "Canyon crawler. Oh, ugh! And there's sure to be more," the Canyon Guide answered in pain.

          "Your arms are broken," Celina said after she and Katara assessed the damage. Luckily Celina and Katara would be able to set his arms back in place. Thank the spirits Gran Gran taught them some first aid.

          "Without my arms, I got no bending. In other words…"

          "We're trapped in this canyon," Aang finished. A feeling of horror washed over everyone.

* * *

          Celina and Katara got to work quickly on the Canyon Guide's arms, setting his bones back in place before bandaging them up. The two girls could hear the conversation that Aang, was having with the tribal leaders.

          "I thought the whole point of ditching our food was so we wouldn't have to deal with things like canyon crawlers," Sokka commented.

          "It's the Zhangs!" the Gan Jin Leader accused. "They took food down here, even after the guide told them not to!"

          "What! If there's anyone who can't go without food for a day, it's you pampered Gan Jins!" the Zhang Leader shot back.

          "I hope you're happy. We're stuck in the canyon with no way out," the Gan Jin Leader seethed.

          "Why don't you thank yourself, food hider!" the Zhang Leader barked. Celina looked over at Aang once her and Katara were finished with bandaging the Guide. He looked displeased at their bickering.

          "Look. Sticking together is the only way to…" Aang said, trying to calm them down.

          "I'm not walkin' another step with the likes of them," the Zhang Leader interrupted.

          "Now, there's something we can agree on," the Gan Jin Leader said, crossing his arms over his chest.

          "Any ideas?" Aang asked Celina.

          She didn't have time to answer when the Canyon Guide began to panic. "No bending. We need to get out of this canyon. I won't die down here! I won't become part of the food chain!" he shouted hysterical. Celina held the Canyon Guide steady, not wanting him to hurt himself with his outburst.

          "See? We're going to become part of the food chain because of YOU!" the Gan Jin Leader shouted.

          "Sure. Unjustly blame the Zhangs like you ALWAYS do!" the Zhang Leader growled.

          "Gladly!" the Gan Jin Leader snapped.

          A blast of wind from an angry Aang shut them up. "ENOUGH! I thought I could help you guys get along, but I guess that's not going to happen," Aang exploded. He airbended himself up onto a small bluff. The bluff was the beginning of a stone baulk between two canyons. "We should split up. Gan Jin on this side and Zhangs on that side. We'll travel in two separate lines."

          The leaders looked up at Aang, then at each other, and then nodded in agreement. The two tribes gathered in their groups and began to take their separate paths, Zhangs on the left and Gan Jin on the right. Aang hoped down and the Water Tribe siblings approached them, Celina still trying to make sure the Canyon Guide didn't hurt himself.

          "Sokka, you go with the Zhangs. And Katara, you go with the Gan Jins. See if you can figure out why they hate each other so much. Celina, you and the Canyon Guide come with me," Aang instructed. Everyone agreed and went their own ways. Sokka to the left, Gan Jin to the right, and Aang helped Celina and the Canyon Guide up on the bluff with him.

* * *

          The day turned to dusk as Aang looked over at both of the canyons, watching as the tribes set up camp. Celina felt bad for Aang. While the Canyon Guide had calmed down since his freak out, Aang had only gotten tense. Momo crawled upon Aang's shoulder as he looked down at the camps.

          "Sure would be nice to be around one of those campfires, telling stories and laughing. It's okay Momo, we'll be out of here soon enough and then we can eat out weight in leechy nuts!" Aang said. Hearing that Aang was hungry Momo jumped up and caught a bug, offering it to Aang. "Nah, I'll wait for the leechy nuts."

          "It can be rather lonely being impartial," Celina commented, remembering back to when Sokka and Katara would get into serious fights. She would split them up like Aang had done to go cool off but could never go to either of them. If she did then one would think that she was taking the other's side instead of theirs, only for more fighting to continue. She hated times like that since Sokka and Katara were the only ones she interacted with back in the South Pole.

          "I wish I could help these people get along, but it just seems impossible. Anyhow, I guess our biggest problem is getting out of here," Aang replied.

          "I'm not so sure the two problems are unrelated," the Canyon Guide said before lying down and nodding off to sleep.

          "What are we gonna do, Celina?" Aang asked.

          "We'll figure something out," Celina told him, sitting down next to Aang. The two of them stared off at the camps before falling asleep for the night.

* * *

          "All clear! We're almost to the other side," the Canyon Guide announced to the two tribes who were still on separate sides of the canyon. Everyone continued walking for a half hour before the two tribes were together again in one space. Aang helped Celina and the Canyon Guide down off the rock as the three of them stood in between the Zhangs and Gan Jin. Sokka and Katara brought up the rear of each tribe before walking over to Aang and Celina.

          "Katara, Sokka, will these people cooperate long enough to get out of this canyon?" Aang asked them.

          "I don't think so, Aang, the Zhang's really wronged the Gan Jins. They ambushed Jin We and stole the sacred orb," Katara answered somewhat harshly.

          "What are you talking about?" Celina asked confused.

          "Yeah, Katara, what are you talking about? We Jin didn't steal the orb, he was returning it to their village gate and was wrongfully punished by the Gan Jin," Sokka said, having heard a different story.

          "Not punished enough if you ask me!" Katara replied, crossing her arms.

          "Okay! Okay! I get it! Now I need your help. Let's get everyone together at the base of the canyon wall," Aang instructed, not wanting to have to deal with another fight. He then flew off to address the crowd. "Please, everyone! As soon as we get out of here we can eat, and then go our separate ways, but I need you all to put your heads together and figure out a way up this cliff."

          "Maybe the Zhang can climb the walls with their long, disgusting fingernails," the Gan Jin Leader suggested rudely.

          "Oh, sorry! I forgot that to the Gan Jin, unclipped fingernails is a crime punishable by twenty years in jail!" the Zhang Leader snapped.

          "Why you dirty thief!"

          "You pompous fool!" The tribes began taunting and arguing with each other again. This time however they were joined by Sokka and Katara who fought for the tribe they were assigned to watch.

          "Guys! FOCUS! How many times do I have to say it? Harsh words won't solve problems, ACTION will!" Aang shouted to them.

          "Perhaps the Avatar is right," the Zhang Leader said eyeing the Gan Jin Leader.

          "Yes, perhaps he is," the Gan Jin Leader agreed.

          Celina looked over to see Aang had hope in his eyes and a wide smile on his face. He thought he finally got through to them though Celina had a bad feeling about this.

          "Harsh words will never solve our problems…"

          "Action will!"

          In a turn of events, both leaders drew out their swords and approached each other. They crossed swords in front of Aang who drew back with a cry of surprise and fear. Celina caught him in her arms as he fell back into her. The two tribes watched on eagerly.

          "Oh this isn't good," Celina muttered.

          "To the death! And let this be the end of this rivalry!" the Gan Jin Leader declared.

          "You know, I take it back! Harsh words aren't so bad," Aang nervously backtracked.

          The two leaders ignored Aang and began their fight. After several feints and thrusts, they pushed each other backward, putting a foot or two between them. The lower portion of the Gan Jin Leader's beard fell off and one of the Zhang Leader's ponytail fell off, having been cut by the other's sword. They went and rushed at each other again but Aang stepped in, bringing his staff down and blowing the two of them backward. Celina gasped when she looked over at the Gan Jin to see a pile of food spilling out a wrapped blanket. One of the Gan Jin tried to hide it by kicking the blanket cover over some of the spilled food. She looked over to the other side to see that the Zhangs had smuggled food down into the canyon as well.

          "Is that… food? Everyone smuggled food down here!? UNBELIEVABLE! You guys put our lives in danger because you couldn't go without a snack for a day! You are all AWFUL!" Aang exclaimed, having finally broken. His eyes widened however upon seeing a tart on the ground. His expression softening into one of sad, longing hunger. "Is that… egg custard in that tart?"

          "Aang, focus! We have bigger problems to deal with!" Celina exclaimed, pointing towards the hoard of canyon crawlers that emerged. The tribes ran away while Aang and Celina stood their ground, ready to fight in order to protect everyone. Aang tried to take on the most, airbending them back. Celina returned to her ice daggers, ready to stab ones that got close. What made her put them down, however, was when she saw that the canyon crawlers weren't really going for the people; they were going for the food, their heads inside food bags.

          "Aang! I think I've discovered our way out of here!" she called, pointing out the food craving crawlers.

          Aang nodded. "Everybody! Watch me! Do what I do!" he shouted. He proceeded to pick up on of the food bags and used it as a muzzle for one of the canyon crawlers before climbing onto it's back. The two tribes were quick to work together and muzzle the crawlers, turning them into mounts. Celina joined Aang on his canyon crawler after making sure that everyone was on one.

          "Now follow me! We're riding out of this hole!" Aang instructed.

          Aang swung a bag filled with food in front of his and Celina's mount, causing it to climb up the canyon walls. The rest of the canyon crawlers followed after it as everyone escaped the canyon. Once they were up at the top everyone quickly dismounted and Aang threw the bag of food back down into the canyon. The canyon crawlers instantly followed the food down into the canyon. The tribe leaders looked at each other amazed.

          "I never thought a Gan Jin could get his hands dirty like that," the Zhang Leader said.

          "And I never knew you Zhang's were so reliable in a pinch," the Gan Jin Leader replied.

          "Perhaps we're not so different after all," the Zhang Leader smiled.

          "Too bad we can't rewrite history," the Gan Jin Leader sighed and then pulled out his sword, pointing it at the Zhang Leader. "You thieves stole our sacred orb from Jin Wei!"

          "You tyrants unjustly imprisoned We Jin for twenty long years!" the Zhang Leader said, drawing out her sword.

          Seeing the sad, frustrated look from Aang pulled on Celina's heartstrings. In a flash, Celina was between the two leaders, one ear from both in her hand. The leaders dropped their swords, in shock that she was pulling their ears. "That's enough," she growled, glaring daggers at both of the tribe leaders.

          "Wait a second! Jin Wei? Wei Jin? I know those guys!" Aang exclaimed.

          "Yes, yes, we're all aware of the story," the Gan Jin Leader strained, still in pain from Celina's ear pulling.

          "No! I mean I really knew them. I may not look it, but I'm 112 years old. I was there a hundred years ago on the day you're talking about," Aang explained. Celina released the tribe leaders' ears as they stopped and listened to what Aang had to say.

          "There seems to be a lot of confusion about what happened. First of all, Jin Wei and Wei Jin weren't enemies, they were brothers, twins in fact, and they were eight. And most importantly, they were just playing a game! The sacred orb from the legend, that was a ball. And the eastern and western gates were the goal posts. Jin Wei had the ball and was running toward the goal when he fell and fumbled it. Wei Jin didn't steal the ball, he picked it up and started running it back towards the other goal. But he stepped out of bounds, so the official put him in the penalty box. Not for twenty years, but for two short minutes. There was no stealing and no putting anyone in prison. Just a game," Aang told them.

          "You're saying the sacred orb was actually a sacred ball?" the Zhang Leader asked.

          "Nope, just a regular ball," Aang answered.

          "What about our tribe's redemption ritual?" the scout from the Gan Jin questioned.

          "That's what the game was called, Redemption. As soon as someone got the ball from one goal to the other everyone would yell, 'redemption!' Don't get me wrong, Wei Jin was kind of a slob and Jin Wei was a little stuffy, that much is true. But they respected each other's differences enough to share the same playing field," Aang said.

          "I suppose it's time we forget the past…" the Zhang Leader said to the Gan Jin Leader.

          "And look to the future," the Gan Jin Leader finished.

* * *

          Aang as quick to run up and cuddle Appa when he arrived with the sick and elderly tribe members. Celina couldn't help but laugh when she saw Appa lick practically Aang's entire front. The Gan Jin Leader thanked Aang for settling the feud between the two tribes before joining the others.

          "Let us travel to the Earth Kingdom capital as one tribe!" the Zhang Leader declared. The crowd of tribe members cheered and then followed the leaders down the path.

          The Canyon Guide ran towards them. "I'm going too! I'm sick of this place!" he exclaimed. The gang was left alone, watching them leave.

          "Looks like things worked out pretty well, Spirit Buddy," Celina smiled at Aang.

          "Yeah. You were really great with the canyon crawlers," Aang complemented. "And it was so funny when you grabbed the leaders' ears to stop them from fighting."

          "Spirit Buddy?" Sokka asked confused.

          "Yep, that's us," Celina said, slinging an arm around Aang's shoulder. "We're Spirit Buddies."

          "When did this happen?" Katara asked.

          "When we were off collecting food," Aang answered. "Speaking of which, where is that custard tart? We're starving!"


	11. The Storm

          Celina sat up in her sleeping bag, carving a piece of wood she'd found earlier into her polar bear dog spirit, the fire providing a good enough light to work. She hoped working on a small task would help with her insomnia, plus she might be able to sell the carved wood for some travel money. Celina was almost done with her carving when Aang sat up in a fright. He disturbed Momo from his sleep who ended up waking up Sokka and Katara. Sokka grabbing his knife and boomerang, thinking that they were under attack.

          "Huh? Uh… what's going on? Did we get captured again?" Sokka asked groggily.

          "It's nothing, I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep," Aang explained.

          "Don't have to tell me twice," Sokka yawned and rolled over back to sleep. Celina and Katara looked at Aang worried, he had moved into a fetal position.

          "Are you alright, Aang?" Katara asked.

          "I'm okay," he replied, though it was clear the girls didn't believe him.

          "You've been having a lot of nightmares lately. You wanna talk to me about it? I'm pretty experienced in the nightmare department," Celina offered.

          "I think I just need some rest," Aang tried to brush off.

          "You guys want to hear about my dream?" Sokka asked excited. One annoyed look from Katara told him no. "That's okay, I didn't wanna talk about it anyway."

          With that Sokka and Katara went back to sleep. Celina stayed up a bit longer to finish her carving, wanting to be there in case Aang wanted to talk. She even used the ashes from the fire to define the details she carved. Once her carving was finished she looked over sadly at Aang and then went to bed herself.

          The next morning the Water Tribe siblings set to work packing up camp while Aang sat on top of Appa's head, looking up at the clear sky.

          "Look at those clear skies, buddy! Should be smooth flying," Aang said to the bison.

          "Well, we better fly ourselves to a market, 'cause we're out of food," Celina told them, examining the food bag only to find it empty.

          "Guys, wait, this was in my dream. We shouldn't go to the market," Sokka said alarmed.

          "What happened in your dream?" Katara asked.

          "Food eats people!" Sokka answered. Celina, Katara, and Aang were not impressed. "Also, Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things."

* * *

          The gang managed to find a marketplace next to a harbor. They landed Appa next to a jetty where he floated happily in the water. Celina gave Katara a few coins, as she was the only one Celina trusted to handle their money. Katara stuck close to the harbor for shopping while Celina walked further into the shops. Celina found a few items and was even able to sell her carved wooden piece for a small profit. She put those earned coins away for another day before heading back to find the others. Celina found her siblings and Aang walking away from a market stand empty handed.

          She heard Sokka complaining before they saw her. "Out of food and out of money, now what are we supposed to do?" Sokka asked depressed.

          "You could get a job, smart guy," Katara suggested before spotting her sister. "Please tell us you had better luck."

          "Well, I've taken care of the food problem," Celina told them. "And I still have a few copper pieces but it won't be enough for next time."

          A conversation happening behind them drew the gang's attention. "We shouldn't go out there! Please, the fish can wait. There's going to be a terrible storm," an old woman was warning an old man.

          "Ahh, you're crazy! It's a nice day. No clouds, no wind, no nothing, so quit you're naggin' woman," he dismissed.

          "Maybe we should find some shelter," Aang suggested. Celina could sense nervousness in his voice.

          "Are you kidding? Shelter from what?" Sokka questioned. The argument from the older couple continued and this time the gang turned and watched them. It wasn't like they were being quiet or anything.

          "My joints day there's going to be a storm! A bad one," the old woman insisted.

          "Well it's your joints over my brain," the old man replied.

          "Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, cause I ain't comin!" the old woman told him.

          "Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get! How do you like that?" the old man threatened.

          "I'll go!" Sokka volunteered, running up to the old man.

          "You're hired!" the old man agreed.

          Sokka turned around to see his sisters and Aang looking at him like he was crazy. "What? You said 'get a job' and he's paying double," Sokka said to them.

          "Double? Who told ya that nonsense?" the old man said to Sokka looking like he was from outer space.

          Celina, Katara, and Aang stuck around near the old man's boat, watching as Sokka loading things onto the fishing boat. Aang began getting antsy as the sky filled with black storm clouds and the wind picked up. Celina was even beginning to get nervous about Sokka going out when the weather was getting worse.

          "Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky," Aang said to him.

          "I said I was gonna do this job. I can't back out just because of some bad weather," Sokka told him, continuing to load supplies onto the boat.

          "The boy with the tattoos has some sense. You should listen to him!" the old woman said to the old man. This caught his attention, causing him to look over at Aang.

          "Boy with tattoos? Airbender tattoos… well, I'll be a hogmonkey's uncle! You're the Avatar, ain't ya?" the old man asked.

          "That's right," Katara smiled.

          "Well don't be so smiley about it. The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years. You turned your back on the world!" the old man accused, poking Aang in the chest.

          "Woah, back up there," Celina said.

          "Don't yell at him! Aang would never turn his back on anyone!" Katara came to his defense.

          "Oh? He wouldn't huh? Then I guess I must have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering," the old man said sarcastically.

          Katara stepped in front of Aang, trying to protect him from the man's harsh words. "Aang is the bravest person I know! He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him. It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang? Aang? What's wrong?"

          Celina turned to see that Aang had been backing up while Katara was telling off the old man. He opened up his glider and then took off towards the mountains. Celina and Katara shot each other worried looked before running off towards Appa to go chase after Aang.

          "That's right! Keep flyin!" the old man continued antagonizing Aang.

          "You're a horrible old man!" Celina called him before climbing onto Appa's head and taking control of the reigns. "Appa, yip yip!" As they took off the water from Appa ended up drenching the old man. The girls didn't care, they had other important matters to deal with.

* * *

          While Celina and Katara were searching for Aang the sky darkened completely, as rain started pouring down from the sky. Celina handed the reigns over to Katara to drive while she used her waterbending to bend the water away from Appa's head, trying to keep them dry. They were passing a cave when Katara decided that they needed to take shelter, flying off into the cave. Celina and Katara dismounted from Appa and bended the water from their clothes. They walked further into the save only to see Aang farther back into the cave.

          "I'm sorry for running away," Aang apologized, not bothering to look back at them.

          "It's okay. That fisherman was way out of line," Katara replied as she and Celina walked over to Aang.

          "Actually, he wasn't," Aang revealed.

          "What do you mean?" Katara asked confused.

          "I don't wanna talk about it," Aang said.

          "It has to do with your dream, doesn't it?" Celina figured out. "Talk to us."

          "Well, it's kind of a long story," Aang sighed. Momo and Appa appeared, walking up to Aang and cuddling with him in order to cheer him up. Katara started a fire up, hoping to warm everyone up. Once everyone was around the fire Aang began his story.

          "I'll never forget the day the monks told me I was the Avatar. I was playing with some other kids just outside the south wall. I was trying to teach them how to do the air scooter when Monk Gyatso came and got me. He said that the monks needed to speak with me about something. He took me into the Air Temple where the monks told me that I was the Avatar. I didn't believe them at first but they said they knew that I was the Avatar since I was little. Monk Gyatso told me they would have told me when I was older but they thought a war was coming."

          "So you were upset that you were the Avatar? Why wouldn't you be excited about it?" Katara asked.

          "Well, I didn't know how to feel about it. All I knew is that after I found out, everything began changing. The other kids wouldn't let me play with them anymore, saying that I had an unfair advantage since I was the Avatar. It was lonely but at least I had Monk Gyatso. He would still play games with me. Then, just when I was starting to feel better, something worse happened. The other monks needed to talk to Gyatso about something and I was curious so I climbed on top of the meeting room and listened in. The monks told Gyatso that we needed to be separated, that I'd be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple."

          "That's awful, Aang. I don't know what to say," Katara told him.

          "How could they do that to me! They wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!" Aang exploded. His Avatar State began to activate as his tattoos started to glow. The energy from his Avatar State caused the cinders from the fire to swirl towards the girls.

          "Whoa! Hot cinders!" Celina exclaimed.

          The glowing stopped as Aang calmed down. "I'm sorry I got so mad," Aang apologized.

          "You have a right to be angry after the monks sent you away like that," Katara tried to assure him.

          "Well… that's not exactly what happened. I was afraid and confused. I didn't know what to do. I left the Air Temple and never saw Gyatso again. We ended up getting caught in this awful storm and got plunged into the ocean. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in your arms after you found me in the iceberg," Aang told him, a guilty expression on his face.

          "You ran away," Celina stated.

          "And then the Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me and I wasn't there to help," Aang pointed out.

          "You don't know what would've…" Celina went to reassure him but Aang wasn't having it.

          "The world needed me and I wasn't there to help. The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world," Aang sulked.

          "You're being too hard on yourself. Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders," Katara told him.

          "You don't know that," Aang said.

          "I know it's meant to be this way. The world needs you now. You give people hope," Katara smiled. Her smile was contagious as it reached Celina and then Aang. An expression of hope spread across Aang's face, finding some of his confidence.

          "Help! Oh, please help!"

          Celina, Katara, and Aang's head snapped towards the entrance of the cave. The old woman from earlier entered the cave. Celina and Katara rushed to her side, helping her towards the fire.

          "It's okay, you're safe," Katara assured her.

          "But my husband isn't," the old woman told them.

          "What do you mean? Where's Sokka?" Katara asked worried.

          "They haven't returned. They should've been back by now, and the storm is becoming a typhoon. They're caught out at sea," she explained.

          "I'm going to find them," Aang declared.

          "We're going with you," Celina told him.

          "I'm staying here!" the old woman said, sitting down by the fire. Celina, Katara, and Aang ran over to Appa and climbed aboard before taking off into the storm to find Sokka and the old man.

* * *

          "Where are they?" Katara asked Aang as they flew through the storm.

          "Come on, Appa," Aang urged the bison further into the storm. Suddenly a massive wall of water appeared up ahead, towering above Appa. Appa wasn't able to pull up and fly over it in time but Aang used his staff to part the water along with help from Celina. As lighting struck the three noticed the silhouette of a small boat. "The boat! It's there!"

          The boat was struggling against the harsh waves. As they reached the boat Aang handed Appa's reigns off to Celina as he jumped down onto the boat. Everyone gasped when lightning struck the mast, causing it to break off and fall towards Aang. He was able to dodge it by splitting it in half and having the halves fall on either side of him.

          Aang grabbed the rope that Sokka had in his hands. "Hang on to the rope!" Aang instructed them to do. With Sokka and the old man holding onto the rope, Aang airbended himself up onto Appa, bringing Sokka and the old man with him. With Aang back, Celina handed him back the reigns to go and hug her brother along with Katara. A large shadow appeared behind them with the sound of water rushing. Everyone looked around to see a wave, even larger than the last approaching them. Before they had any time to react the wave crashed upon them, submerging everyone.

          Aang floated away from Appa and his friends, watching as they struggled to stay awake and alive. He saw Celina attempt to create an air bubble for at least herself but was failing. Aang's Avatar State took over as his tattoos lit up. Instead of creating an iceberg to freeze everyone in he took control back of the reigns and raised them out of the water and into the sky. As soon as they were out of the water Aang's Avatar State went away. Celina's top half was hanging off Appa's saddle as she coughed up water. She glanced over to see Aang and Zuko from his ship below sharing a look. When Aang looked away it was hard to tell but she swore Zuko glanced at her. Celina sighed before dragging herself back into Appa's saddle.

* * *

 

          The weather lightened up to a drizzle as they made their way back to the cave. Celina got off Appa and ran her fingers through his fur, thanking him for getting them through the storm. Sure Aang got them out of the ocean but Appa did fly them through a nasty storm. She walked into the cave, bending all the water from her and tossing it outside. Celina turned around to see the reunion between the old man and woman.

          "Oh, you're alive! You owe this boy an apology," she scolded her husband to do.

          "He doesn't have to apologize," Aang told her.

          "Mmm, uh, what if instead of an apology I give him free fish and we call it even?" the old man offered.

          "That sounds alright, you might not eat it Aang but I'm sure that we will," Celina interjected, referring to her and her siblings. Aang might be vegetarian but they were raised as meat eaters and that wasn't changing.

          "You're still gonna pay me right?" Sokka asked the old man. He responded by dropping a fish into Sokka's outstretched hand. Aang walked over to Celina and Katara smiling.

          "Katara, I think you were right before. I'm done dwelling on the past," Aang told them. "I can't make guesses about how things would have turned out if I hadn't run away. I'm here now and I'm going to make the most of it."

          "I don't think you're gonna have those nightmares anymore," Celina smiled.

          The old man walked over to Aang and put a hand on his shoulder. "Uh, if you weren't here now, well, I guess I wouldn't be either. Thank you for saving my life, Avatar," he thanked.

          "Do you hear that? It's stopped raining," Sokka informed everyone.

          Everyone walked outside and just looked at the sky, taking in the calm after the storm.


	12. The Blue Spirit

          Sokka coughed as he laid in his sleeping bag on Appa. The gang had landed in the remains of the decaying ghost town because of Sokka's illness, settling within the remains of a temple. He had been coughing and running a fever all day. Celina figured that he got sick from staying out in the storm and not drying off properly. Katara sat next to him, wiping his forehead with a wet cloth.

          "This should bring your fever down," Katara told him.

          "You know what I love about Appa the most? His sense of humor," Sokka said feverishly.

          "That's nice. I'll tell him," Katara replied. Appa grunted at Sokka which only caused him to laugh, his fever making him delusional enough to think that Appa joked around with him. Celina stared at him worried when Aang walked up to them, back from look for ginger that Celina instructed him to find.

          "How's Sokka doing?" he asked.

          "Not so good. Being out in that storm really did a number on him," Celina answered. They looked over to see Sokka shivering in his sleeping bag, sniffling.

          "I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea, but I found a map," Aang informed the girls. "There's a herbalist institute on the top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for Sokka there."

          "Aang, he's in no condition to travel. Sokka just needs more rest. I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow," Katara said and then began to cough.

          "Not you too," Celina replied worried.

          "Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fine," Katara tried to reassure them but broke out into more coughing.

          "That's how Sokka started yesterday. Now look at him – he thinks he's an earthbender!" Aang exclaimed.

          "Take that you rock!" Sokka shouted, swinging at something that wasn't there.

          "A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense too. I'm going to find some medicine," Aang said. He grabbed his glider and walked to the edge of the temple. A huge flash of lightning caused Aang to set his glide back down. "Uh, maybe it's safer if I go on foot."

          "Don't worry Aang, I'll watch after them. I know how to handle both of them when they're sick," Celina assured the airbender. Aang nodded before heading out. Celina turned back to Katara who did not look pleased that her sister, though she was sick.

          "I'm telling you, Celina, I'm fine. Besides, if Sokka's sick and I'm supposedly sick then shouldn't you be sick as well?" Katara asked.

          "I dried off after getting out of the storm. You two didn't. That's why I'm not going to get sick," Celina explained to her. "Now why don't you get into your sleeping bag and get some rest."

          "No way, I'm taking care of Sokka," Katara replied and then stomped over to their brother, resuming wiping his face down with a damp cloth. Celina sighed. Katara was too stubborn for her own good sometimes. She wouldn't give up until she couldn't stand anymore from being so sick. Seeing that she wasn't going to convince her otherwise Celina went and tended to the fire, trying to make the space as warm as possible to help with Sokka's fever and Katara's eventual one.

* * *

          Celina watched as Katara slowed succumbed to the same illness as Sokka. She was fighting against it as much as she could but ended up resting against Appa. Katara wasn't shaking feverishly like Sokka yet but Celina was hoping to get her sister into her sleeping bag before she did.

          "Katara… please… water…," Sokka asked. Celina got up from her place by the fire to go fetch some water for her brother when Katara began talking to Momo.

          "Listen carefully, Momo. I need you to take this to the river and fill it with water," she instructed the lemur, giving Momo her water skin. This made Celina extremely worried, seeing as Katara was starting to become as delusional as Sokka was, thinking that Momo was the only one to take care of her and Sokka. Momo snatched the water skin from Katara's hands and flew off.

          Getting up from her place by the fire Celina retrieved Katara's sleeping bag and unfurled it. "Katara sweetie, how about you get into your sleeping bag and get some rest," Celina coaxed.

          "But what about, Sokka?" Katara asked, her voice weakening.

          "I'll take care of Sokka and you sent Momo off to get some water. You just get some rest alright?" Celina answered.

          Katara nodded and let Celina help her get into her sleeping bag. Putting a hand on Katara's forehead her suspicions that Katara was running a fever were confirmed. The wet rag that Katara had been using on Sokka earlier had dried and wouldn't be any help for either of her siblings. They had also run out of drinking water a while ago, trying to keep Sokka hydrated. Celina hoped that Momo was capable of getting water like Katara instructed him to.

          She sighed in frustration seeing that perspiration was coating both Sokka and Katara's foreheads. A moment of inspiration hit her, blowing gently on Katara's forehead. In doing so she created a thin sheet of ice from the perspiration. Katara sighed in relief. Celina smiled seeing that the small waterbending trick worked. She quickly moved over to Sokka and did the same thing. Her brother responded just like Katara did.

* * *

          Celina moved back and forth between Sokka and Katara, refreezing the thin sheet of ice on their forehead once it melted.

          "Water…" Sokka asked again.

          "Momo should be back any minute," Katara told him from her sleeping bag. The lemur in question showed up happily. Celina's belief in the lemur fell drastically when he dropped a dead mouse in front of Katara. "Ugh! No, Momo, water. Wa-ter!"

          "Aang, what in the world is taking you so long?" Celina sighed. Getting up from her spot in between her siblings Celina dusted herself off. "I'm going to go get you guys some water, alright? Just get some rest while I'm gone. Keep an eye on them for me guys." Appa grunted in response, causing Sokka to burst into laughter. She needed to move fast.

          Celina moved quickly, heading away from the deserted town in search of a body of water. On her way out she found Katara's water skin that her sister entrusted to Momo. Celina couldn't help but roll her eyes. Momo was a lemur, he wouldn't know what to do with a water skin. She picked it up, happy to have another skin to fill with water. Celina listened carefully, trying to pick up on the sound of rushing water. Making her way into the forest she hoped that some animals would lead her to a water source but a lot of them were off hiding because of the lightning earlier. It looked like she was going to have to wander around to try and find it herself when a familiar friend made an appearance.

          "What are you doing so far away from the South Pole?" Celina asked the polar bear dog. His sandy colored fur and red markings seemed to make something click in her mind. "You're a spirit. That explains how you helped me find Appa back in the South Pole. Are you here to show me where water is?"

          The polar bear dog nodded. Celina smiled widely and gave the spirit a hug. "Thank you, friend. Alright lead the way," Celina motioned.

          The spirit led her out of the forest and towards a body of water before disappearing again. Celina was quick to open the water skins and fill them to the brim. She was about to head out when she noticed there was an arrow sticking out of a nearby log with a piece of fabric attached to it. She had a bad feeling about what that fabric was but she didn't have time to check it out now, Celina needed to get back to her siblings with the water.

          Celina sprinted her way back to their campsite. Both her siblings were trying to sleep but she woke them up. They needed to drink water and stay hydrated. Sokka was the easier one to wake up as he was the one who'd been asking for water to begin with. Katara was a bit more difficult but Celina got her up eventually. Celina reapplied the thin ice sheets to their forehead.

          "I'm gonna go look for Aang," she told them. Katara simply nodded while Sokka went back to sleep. Celina sighed, they really needed Aang to get back with that medicine. Night had fallen but Celina used the light of the moon to make her way back to the water source the polar bear dog spirit led her to earlier. She got herself dirty, wading through the water to get a closer look at the arrow and the cloth it pinned to the log. Unfortunately, Celina tripped on something causing her to fall. She tried to catch herself but ended up cutting her hand on the arrow.

          Celina let out a hiss in response as blood started to leak out from the cut. She stuck her hand down into the water, hoping to clean the cut when the water around her hand began to glow. A cooling feeling coming from her cut before it disappeared along with the glowing water. When she pulled her hand out of the water Celina was surprised to see that the cut was completely healed.

          "What?" Celina muttered to herself. Had the water healed her? Was this another form of waterbending? "That's gonna come in handy."

          Going back to the arrow Celina got a closer look at the piece of cloth. It definitely was a piece of yellow cloth. Celina's heart sunk, it must have come from Aang's shirt. She hasn't seen anyone wear as bright a yellow that he did. Celina plucked the arrow from the log and pocketed the piece of cloth, she didn't need anyone else catching glimpse of where Aang could have been taken. Getting out of the water she hid the arrow inside a bush and began looking for other arrows that could lead her to where Aang was taken.

          There were arrows scattered around her that Aang must have dodged, all at a specific angle. The archers must have been up in the trees, they must have been very skilled as moving through the trees meant no clear path to follow. That meant she was wandering blind. But she couldn't give up as right now with Katara and Sokka out she was the only one who could save Aang. And whoever these archers were they were skilled and must have had a proper base where they were keeping Aang.

* * *

          Celina looked all night, trying hard to stay in the shadows in case there were still some few archers hiding within the treetops. She wished that her polar bear dog friend would come back to help guide her there but the spirit didn't make another appearance. Celina was disheartened when the sun began to rise and still didn't find anything. She was about to head back to the temple to check up on Sokka and Katara when she heard someone talking.

          "If we knew each other back then do you think we could have been friends too?" Aang's voice sounded.

          "Aang!" Celina exclaimed, excited that she found him. She turned the corner to see Aang sitting next to a masked man who was lying in the grass. Aang looked a bit nervous when she ran over to the both of them, glancing down at the masked man every now and then. "I'm so happy I found you."

          "Celina, what are you doing here? Why aren't you taking care of Sokka and Katara?" Aang asked.

          "I kinda needed to leave when I noticed an arrow with a piece of yellow cloth attached to it. What happened? And who's this?" Celina asked, looking down at the masked man. He wore a blue mask resembling a demon.

          "He helped me escaped from Zhao," Aang answered. "Come on we should head back to Sokka and Katara, I have their medicine." It was then that Celina noticed that the mysterious man's arm was bleeding, probably pierced by an arrow when they escaped.

          "Wait, Aang, he's hurt," Celina stalled and then kneed down next to the man.

          "What are you doing?" Aang asked nervous and confused when she pulled out water from her waterskin.

          "Something that I just discovered myself," Celina answered and then coated the man's cut in water. She concentrated and the water began to glow blue. The man gasped as he felt the water's cool healing powers. When the water stopped glowing Celina returned it to her water skin.

          Aang gasped seeing that the man was healed. "Cool trick huh? I think I'm getting stronger," Celina commented, looking down at her hands.

          "That's great, but we need to go," Aang said and took Celina by her hand.

          "But, Aang, what about…" she went to ask but he was already pulling her back towards their campsite. Celina looked back at the masked man who sat up and stared at them.

* * *

          Zuko didn't know what to think. He didn't understand why the Avatar would carry him away from Zhao and the Yu Yan archers and brought him to safety. He didn't understand why the Avatar would put his mask back on when the waterbending girl found them.

          What surprised him the most was when the girl kneeled down and healed the cut he got from an arrow. The girl was such a mystery to him and from what he saw she'd become a healer. She was getting stronger, that was for sure, he'd need to keep an eye out for that girl.

          "Celina," he whispered to himself before getting up and heading back to his ship. It had been a long night and he needed some sleep.

* * *

          Celina and Aang made their way back to their camp, Aang looking tired and downcast to which Celina couldn't figure out why. Aang refused to say anything about what he said to the mystery man or if he even knew who he was. She was surprised when Aang pulled out two frozen frogs from his clothes and put them in her siblings' mouths.

          "Suck on these. They'll make you feel better," he told them before collapsing onto Appa's tail.

          "Aang, how was your trip? Did you make any new friends?" Sokka asked with his mouth full of frog.

          "No, I don't think I did," Aang answered. Celina looked asked him questioningly. Aang merely shook his head, not wanting to talk about it.

          "Mmmm! This is tasty!" Sokka hummed. As the frogs began to thaw out her siblings began to come to their senses and realize what they were sucking on. Sokka and Katara quickly spit the frogs out and began spitting to get the taste out of their mouths. Celina couldn't help but giggle at them.


	13. The Fortuneteller

          Celina stood at the edge of the gang's campsite, standing right at the edge of the lake that they landed at. It wasn't often that she had a nice big water source during their travels so Celina was taking the opportunity to practice her larger scale waterbending. Her siblings and Aang sat around the camp. Sokka was scowling as he watched a fish taunting them.

          "You are so going to be dinner!" Sokka declared and then grabbed his fishing rod which he went to cast but nothing happened. "Hey! Where's the fishing line?"

          "Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka," Aang said and then held up a necklace he had woven with the fishing line.

          "Aahh, it's all tangled!" Sokka complained.

          "Not tangled, woven," Aang clarified and then turned to Katara. "I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your other one…"

          Katara smiled and took the necklace from him. "Thanks, Aang. I love it," she told him.

          "Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry making business," Sokka said sarcastically.

          "I don't see why I can't do both," Aang said. Sokka turned back around to see the fish taunting him once again by jumping out of some water that Celina was bending.

          "Stop taunting me!" he exclaimed.

          Celina sighed, seeing that her practice time was being interrupted by her brother and a bothersome fish. "Here, let me," Celina offered. She bended water around the fish and brought it up into the air. Using her trick from back home she removed some water before freezing the fish. The fish fell into her hands to which she handed it off to Sokka.

          "Thanks," Sokka said and took the fish.

          "So, how do I look?" Katara asked Aang having put on the necklace. Celina smirked upon seeing Aang blush. His crush on Katara was so cute.

          "You mean all of you or just your neck? I mean, uh, both look great," Aang stumbled.

          "Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love," Sokka teased.

          "I… well…" Aang stuttered embarrassed.

          "Stop teasing him, Sokka. Aang's just a good friend. A sweet little guy just like Momo," Katara said.

          "Thanks," Aang muttered, clearly put down from her comment. Celina couldn't help but wince as well, knowing that a romantic interest comparing you to a cute animal wasn't that great. Celina and Sokka walked over to them about to prepare the fish for dinner when an ominous sound alerted everyone. Aang airbended himself up on top of a rock in order to locate the source of the noise. "Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!"

          The gang ran off. They arrived to see that a man was being attacked by a platypus bear, calmly dodging its attacks. "Well, hello there. Nice day, isn't it?" the man said to Aang as he avoided swipes.

          "Make noise, it'll run off!" Aang told him.

          "No, play dead, he'll lose interest!" Sokka said.

          "Run downhill and then climb a tree!" Katara exclaimed.

          "No, punch him in the bill!" Sokka replied.

          "And then run in zigzags!" Aang added.

          "No need. It's going to be fine," the calm man tried to assure them. The platypus bear swung at the man again, taking a large chunk of wood out of a nearby tree. Celina stepped between the man and platypus bear. The platypus bear stalled from attacking and looked at her. It proceeded to sniff the air around her and calmed down immensely.

          "Leave," Celina ordered. The platypus bear looked guilty, walked over to the river, and swam away. Celina turned back to the man. "Lucky for you we came along."

          "Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry, Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey," the man told them.

          "Aunt who?" Aang asked confused.

          "No, Aunt Wu. She's the fortuneteller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future," the man explained.

          "Wow, it must be. That explains why you were so calm," Katara said.

          "But the fortuneteller was wrong! You didn't have a safe journey, you were almost killed!" Sokka exclaimed.

          "But I wasn't. All right, have a good one! Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers to give them this," the man said, handing Aang and wrapped package. He then went on his way.

          "Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun," Katara suggested.

          "Oh come on, fortunetelling is nonsense," Sokka sulked.

          Aang opened the package to reveal an umbrella that opened up in his hand. "What do ya know, an umbrella!" Aang said. The sky instantly darkened and thunder sounded as it began pouring rain. Aang stood under the umbrella while Celina and Katara waterbended the water away from them.

          "That proves it," Katara decided, running under Aang's umbrella. Celina pulled Sokka close to her so that he was out of the rain as well.

          "No, it doesn't," Sokka responded as they began walking down the road. "Of course she predicted it was gonna rain. The sky's been gray all day."

          "Just admit you might be wrong," Katara said.

          "Look, I'm going to predict the future now. It's going to keep drizzling. See!" Sokka declared.

          Celina couldn't help but laugh when the rain instantly stopped and the sun came out. "Not everyone has the gift, Sokka," Celina chuckled.

* * *

          The gang made their way to a nearby village and stood in front of a circular door of a building. A heard of sorts stood at the door and greeted them.

          "Aunt Wu is expecting you," he said to them.

          "Really?" Katara asked amazed. Sokka grumbled as they walked inside and sat down on pillows as they waited for Aunt Wu. A young girl in a pink kimono and huge braids that stuck straight out walked over to them.

          "My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant," she introduced herself. Celina noticed her eyes go wide as soon as she saw Aang. She had the same look on her face that Aang did earlier when he looked at Katara. Celina felt sorry for the girl already. Meng turned her attention entirely to Aang. "Well hello there."

          "Hello," Aang responded.

          "Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" Meng asked him.

          "I'll try a curd puff," Sokka told her.

          "Just a second," Meng quickly brushed him off before continuing to talk with Aang. "So what's your name?"

          "Aang," he answered.

          "That rhymes with Meng! And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?" Meng exclaimed excited.

          "I… guess…" Aang replied a bit confused and a bit self-conscious about his ears.

          "Oh, don't be modest. They're huge!" Sokka laughed. Aang glared at Sokka before putting his hands over his ears, embarrassed. Celina elbowed Sokka in his ribs, causing him to stop laughing to cradle his sore side.

          "Well, Aang, it is very nice to meet you. Very nice," Meng almost purred.

          "Likewise," Aang replied completely oblivious. Meng slowly made her way out of the room, taking one last look at Aang.

          "I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense," Sokka grumbled.

          "Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future," Katara said.

          "It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs," Sokka replied.

          "Come on, Sokka. If anything this will be fun," Celina told her brother. Sokka just rolled his eyes in response.

          Meng came back out carrying a tray over to the gang filled with the bean curd puffs and cups of tea. The girl, however, was only paying attention to Aang which caused her to trip. She almost dumped everything on Aang but he helped steady her grip on the tray.

          "Enjoy your snack," Meng quickly stuttered out embarrassed before running out of the room.

          An older woman in a yellowy gold kimono entered the room. Just by the way she was dressed Celina figured that this must have been the famous Aunt Wu. "Welcome young travelers," she greeted the gang. "Now who's first? Don't be shy."

          "How about you go first, Katara," Celina suggested. "After all you're the one who's been most excited about this." Katara gave her a smile before getting up and following Aunt Wu into a room.

          Celina looked over to see her brother chomping down on curd puffs. "Not bad. Not bad. Mmmm!" Sokka hummed. Celina picked one up and munched on it. She had to agree with Sokka, they were pretty good. She was finding that was common with a lot of dishes they tried while traveling. Celina didn't know if she could ever go back to some Water Tribe food after this.

          "I'm good on puffs," Aang said pushing them to the side. "So… what do you think they're talking about back there?"

          "Boring stuff, I'm sure. Love, who she's going to marry, how many babies she's going to have," Sokka answered.

          "That does sound boring," Celina commented.

          "Wait, you're a girl. Wouldn't you want to know about stuff like that?" Sokka asked confused.

          "I mean, love is great. But I already know my future with that and marriage really isn't in it. I've come to accept that a while ago," Celina told them, sadness in her voice. "But at least Katara gets to find out who her true love is."

          "Well, I've gotta find the bathroom!" Aang announced suddenly and ran off.

          Sokka turned and looked at his sister worried. "Celina, what did you mean about accepting that marriage wasn't in your future?" he asked.

          "I'm not an idiot, Sokka. Noone's gonna wanna marry a freak," Celina replied.

          "You're not a freak…" Sokka went to assure her.

          "But I am!" Celina snapped. "All my life that's what I've been told. You've even said it yourself multiple times."

          Sokka was taken back. Sure he called Celina a freak and crazy in the past but he also called Katara those things and she didn't seem as affected. "I didn't know that bothered you so much," Sokka admitted feeling guilty.

          "Of course it does," Celina said.

          "You never said anything about it," Sokka stated.

          "How could I when I was ostracized by the whole tribe. There aren't that many people to talk to when you're alone," Celina replied. Sokka frowned, feeling even guiltier for not noticing how awful his sister felt all these years.

          Aang returned looking happy as ever which was the total opposite of the two Water Tribe siblings. Aunt Wu and Katara came out which caused Celina to put on a happy face, trying to push away the sadness that came from years of torment, while Sokka just scowled, reminded why they were here.

          "Who's next?" she asked.

          "Okay, let's get this over with," Sokka said standing.

          "Your future is full of struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted," Aunt Wu read him.

          "But, you didn't read my palms or anything!" Sokka protested.

          "I don't need to. It's written all over your face," she replied. "How about you, Miss?" Celina nodded and followed Aunt Wu into her room.

          It was a simple room with four red pillars rising to the roof. In the center of the four pillars was a depression in the floor where Aunt Wu had her fire pit. She led Celina over to an urn full of bones.

          "This is the most reliable method of telling your fortune. Your sister informed me of your connection to the spirits so I thought that this would be most beneficial. The bones never lie. Go on and pick one," Aunt Wu informed her. Celina studied the bones and picked one up from the urn. "Now throw it on the fire. The heat makes cracks in the bones and I read the bone cracks to tell your destiny."

          Celina tossed her bone into the fire and her and Aunt Wu watched as it was heated by the flames. There was a small crack at first which quickly branched out into a larger one.

          "I've never seen this before," Aunt Wu commented before the completely cracked in half before sending multiple splitters their way. Celina was quick to shield her eyes.

          "Young lady, your future is incredible. You will fight not only a great battle that will help determine the fate of the world but fight a battle inside yourself as well. Before spring, you will uncover things about yourself that will change who you are entirely, the spirits being a big part in this. And oh, the struggle you will come across when you find a love bond in an unexpected place. And what a man you'll find, such a strong bender. You, my dear, are going to have an interesting life."

          Celina stared at Aunt Wu, not entirely sure what to think about what the fortuneteller just told her.

          "What do you mean?... Love?... That can't be right… no one could love me," Celina stuttered out.

          Aunt Wu put a hand on Celina's shoulder and looked at her with pity. "You do not see yourself that clearly, my dear. But that will change with time," Aunt Wu told her. Celina shook herself out of Aunt Wu's hand and backed up, not feeling comfortable being around the woman anymore.

          "I don't know about that," she muttered before walking out of the room.

* * *

          Once they left Aunt Wu's the gang walked further towards the main square as Appa followed behind them.

          "Well, now you got to see for yourselves that fortunetelling is just a big, stupid hoax," Sokka said.

          "You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself unhappy your whole life," Katara retorted.

          "That woman is crazy! My life will be calm and happy and joyful!" Sokka exploded and kicked a small stone that just so happened to ricochet off a sign and hit him in the head. "Ow! That doesn't prove anything!"

          "Well, I liked my predictions," Katara said. "Certain things are going to turn out very well."

          "They sure are," Aang replied knowingly.

          "Why, what did she tell you?" Katara questioned.

          "Some stuff. You'll find out," Aang smiled.

          "What about you, Celina? How did you like your fortune?" Katara asked.

          "I'd rather not talk about it," Celina replied shyly, hanging back towards Appa. She still didn't know how she felt about her fortune. Part of her was on Sokka's side, thinking that Aunt Wu couldn't be right. Her fall in love with a powerful bender? Yeah right. But another part of her wondered if there was any truth to what she told her.

          Her thoughts were interrupted when they came upon a large gathering of people in the square, all hovering around a stage in the center. The gang approached curious and came across the calm man from before.

          "What's with the sky?" Katara asked.

          "We are waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds to predict the fate of the whole village," the calm man informed her.

          "That cloud looked like a fluffy bunny," Aang pointed out.

          "You better hope that's not a bunny. The fluffy bunny cloud forecasts doom and destruction," the old man told him.

          "Do you even hear yourself?" Sokka asked, not believing what he was hearing.

          "The cloud reading will tell us if Mount Makapu will remain dormant for another year or if it will erupt," a woman told them.

          "We used to have a tradition once a year of going up the mountain to check the volcano ourselves, but ever since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago we have a tradition of not doing that," the calm man explained to them.

          "That sounds extremely lazy and dangerous," Celina muttered to herself.

          "I can't believe you would trust your lives to that crazy old woman's superstition," Sokka scoffed, aggravated by everything.

          "Shhh! She's coming!" Katara exclaimed excited. They watched as Aunt Wu ascended the large staircase to the stage and pulled out a book. Celina noticed Meng slip next to Aang and tried to flirt with him only to be completely shot down and witness him try to flirt with Katara.

          "Bending arrow cloud… good crops this year, nice big harvest!" Aunt Wu read, looking back and forth from the clouds to her book. "Wavy moon shaped cloud… let's see… gonna be a great year for twins. And a cumulus cloud with a twisted nob coming off the end of it… the village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!" The crowd cheered, extremely happy with her reading.

* * *

          Celina walked with Sokka and Aang around the village square, looking around in case they needed supplies for their travels.

          "I can't believe all these saps. Someone really needs to scream some sense at them," Sokka complained, still salty about how everyone hung on Aunt Wu's words… even their sister.

          "They seem happy, Sokka," Celina pointed out.

          "Not for long. I'm gonna prove Aunt Wu's predictions are nonsense. Hey, you! I bet Aunt Wu told you to wear those red shoes, didn't she," Sokka said to a man wearing bright red shoes.

          "Yeah, she said I'd be wearing red shoes when I met my true love," he answered.

          "Uh-huh. And how many times have you worn those shoes since you got that fortune?" Sokka asked.

          "Every day," the red shoed man answered.

          "THEN, OF COURSE, IT'S GOING TO COME TRUE!" Sokka shouted in anger and frustration.

          "Self-fulfilling prophecy," Celina couldn't help but mutter to herself.

          "Really? You think so? I'm so excited!" the man brightened. Sokka kicked a stone on the ground out of frustration which ended up hitting a duck. The duck, displeased by the attack set its sights on Sokka and began attacking him.

          "You know, I'm not completely sold on the whole fortune thing but Sokka certain showing how his is coming true," Celina commented to Aang. The airbender nodded in agreement.

          "So, Sokka, you know some stuff about ladies, right?" Aang asked once Sokka had escaped the torment of the duck. Celina knew where this was going.

          "Some stuff? You've come to the right place," Sokka answered smugly and slung an arm around Aang's shoulders. Celina couldn't help but scoff. "What can I do you for?"

          "Well, there's this girl…" Aang slightly admitted.

          "I think I know who you mean," Sokka told him, getting a glimpse of Meng watching Aang from behind a barrel.

          "Oh, I doubt you do," Celina commented.

          "You do? And you're okay with it?" Aang asked.

          "Of course I am. And, to tell you the truth, I've been picking up the subtle vibe that she likes you too," Sokka said, clearly thinking that he was referring to Meng instead of Katara.

          "She does!?" Aang asked delighted.

          "No, Aang, Sokka's a bit confused…" Celina tried to tell the young airbender but Sokka interrupted her.

          "Oh yeah, she's crazy about ya. All ya have to do now is not mess it up," Sokka said.

          "Well, how do I do that?" Aang asked completely trusting Sokka on this.

          "The number one mistake nice guys like you make: being too nice," Sokka answered.

          "What?" Celina asked in disbelief.

          "If you want to keep her interested you have to act aloof like you don't really care one way or the other," Sokka continued.

          "Well…okay," Aang accepted.

          "No, Aang, that's not…" Celina went to correct.

          "Hey Aang, I was wondering…" Meng began to say as she walked up to him.

          But Aang kind of pushed her aside to go off and look for Katara. "See ya later," he told them, completely oblivious to Meng being there at all.

          "Wow, that kid is good," Sokka commented, looking at Aang in admiration.

          "Sokka, you idiot! He wasn't talking about Meng, he was talking about Katara," Celina growled at her brother. Meng deflated from before practically ran away hearing what Celina said. "Oh, Meng. Oh well, the girl had to learn sooner or later."

          "What are you talking about?" Sokka asked her confused.

          "It's obvious. Aang like likes Katara, it's been noticed for quite some time. Even you teased him about it," Celina explained. "And you just told him to go act like he doesn't even care about her. Be aloof, bah! How would a girl even know you like her if you're ignoring her all the time? That is how you lose dates, bro."

          "How do you know this?" Sokka asked.

          "Because it's common sense," Celina answered a bit exasperated.

          Sokka looked at her for a little while, pondering over what she said before shrugging. "I still think that I'm right," he told her, causing Celina to groan in response.

* * *

          Aang was dragging Celina and Sokka up the volcano in order to retrieve a panda lily for Katara, though Sokka still believed that it was for Meng.

          "I can't believe you're dragging us all the way up here for a stupid flower," Sokka complained as they climbed.

          "Not just a flower, a panda lily. I've seen it in action and boy does it work," Aang explained to Sokka.

          "Flowers are fine once you're married, but at this early stage it's critical that you maintain maximum aloofness," Sokka told him.

          "I think it's a wonderful idea Aang," Celina piped in.

          "My heart is telling me to get his flower, and Aunt Wu said if I trusted my heart I would be with the one I love," Aang said.

          "What? Don't tell me you believe in that stuff too," Sokka groaned.

          "Well, Aunt Wu hasn't been wrong yet. Why should she be wrong about love?" Aang asked and then spotted the panda lily. "There, on the rim!" He jumped towards the rim of the volcano and grabbed the panda lily before his eyes widened. Looking down into the volcano he saw that it was very active and looked like it was ready to blow. "Oh no, Aunt Wu was wrong."

          Celina and Sokka soon made their way up to the rim of the volcano, next to Aang, and looked down in alarm.

          "Those people all think they're safe. We've got to warn 'em," Celina told the boys.

          "There's no time to walk," Aang stated and opened up his glider. "Grab on." Celina and Sokka grabbed hold of Aang's glider as the airbender flew them back down into town, Sokka screaming the majority of the way. The three of them landed right in front of Aunt Wu's place where Katara was waiting outside.

          "Hi, Katara," Aang greeted her.

          "Can you believe she won't let me in?" Katara complained. "And after all the business I've given her."

          "But she doesn't even charge," Celina pointed out.

          "I know, but still," Katara replied.

          "Well, we have other things to worry about. Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano," Sokka told her.

          "Sokka, you tried to convince me she was wrong before. It's going to take an awful lot to change my mind…" Katara was cut off by the sound of the volcano erupting to life. A combination of ash and smoke stretched up in a plume in the sky. "Oh, no!"

* * *

          The gang ran towards the village square where loads of villagers were, looking calm as ever despite the reveal of the active volcano.

          "Everyone! That volcano is gonna blow any second. Aunt Wu was wrong!" Sokka announced.

          "Yeah, yeah, we know you don't believe in Aunt Wu, Mr. Science and Reason Lover," a girl in the crowd mocked.

          "If you won't listen to him, maybe you'll listen to me. I want to believe Aunt Wu and her predictions as much as you do, but my siblings and Aang saw the lava with their own eyes," Katara told them

          "Well I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears," the calm man from before replied.

          Aang airbended himself up onto the roof of Aunt Wu's house, hoping people would take him more seriously. "Please listen to us. You are all in danger! And we have to get out of here. You can't rely on Aunt Wu's prediction. You have to take fate into your own hands," he said to everyone.

          "Look!" Celina cried out, pointing towards the volcano where another explosion occurred.

          "Can your fortunetelling explain that?" Sokka questioned the crowd.

          "Can your science explain why it rains?" a man in the crowd shot back.

          "Yes! Yes, it can!" Sokka shouted annoyed.

          The crowd was unconvinced and began to disperse back to their homes. With how things were looking at the moment the whole village would be destroyed by the volcano and with it the villagers.

          "They won't listen to reason," Celina observed as Aang flew back down to them.

          "But they will listen to Aunt Wu," Aang pointed out.

          "I know, that's the problem," Sokka complained.

          "Well, it's about to become the solution. We're taking fate in our own hands. First, I need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud reading book," Aang explained.

* * *

          Aang managed to nab the book from Aunt Wu's house. He and the girls made their way onto Appa and flew up into the clouds. With the combination of air and waterbending Celina, Katara, and Aang shaped the clouds into the symbol of volcanic doom which happened to be a skull. By the time the three got back down into the town the volcano was spewing smoke into the air and the village was completely recognized what was going on.

          "We can still save the village if we act fast. Sokka has a plan," Aang informed the townspeople.

          "Lava is gonna flow downhill to this spot. If we can dig a deep enough trench we can channel all the lava away from the village to the river," Sokka explained.

          "If any of you are earthbenders come with me," Aang said and then lead away all the earthbenders for digging.

          Sokka took the rest of the villagers giving them shoves to dig with. Celina headed down towards the riverbed, using the water to knock away at the ground. Everyone's progress sped up when the volcano exploded again, this time spewing lava. Celina and an earthbender worked together and connected the trench to the river. She grabbed some water and ran back towards Aang and her siblings.

          "Everyone needs to evacuate! We'll come for you when it's safe!" Aang shouted to everyone. The villagers ran while Aang and the Water Tribe siblings stuck around, Celina giving Katara half of the water she brought in case they needed it. They all watched as the lava made its way to the village gate, burning it away along with the graveyard before heading towards the trench. The trench began to fill rapidly.

          "It's too much! It's gonna overflow!" Katara cried out.

          Another explosion happened, causing burning objects to rain down on the village in addition to the ash. Celina froze the water into a shield of ice, protecting the gang from getting burned. Aang took charge as a huge boulder fell out of the sky and landed in the trench, causing the lava to overflow. He airbended the lava straight up before it entered the village. Aang drew in a mighty breath and airbended it out, cooling all of the lava into stone. The Water Tribe siblings watched in awe.

          "Man, sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is," Sokka commented. Celina and Katara froze at Sokka's words, remembering what Aunt Wu told them during their reading from Aunt Wu.

          "I suppose he is…" Katara accepted. Celina just shivered, hoping that Aunt Wu didn't mean that she would form a love bond with Aang. She'd leave him for Katara.

* * *

          The gang stood in front of Aunt Wu and the rest of the village while Aang returned the cloud book he borrowed to her.

          "Do you messed with the cloud did you," Aunt Wu accused and grabbed the book in anger causing Aang to cringe. Then Aunt Wu began to laugh. "Very clear!"

          "No offense, but I hope this taught everyone a lesson about not relying too much on fortunetelling," Sokka scolded the crowd.

          "But Aunt Wu predicted the village wouldn't be destroyed, and it wasn't," the calm man tried to prove.

          Celina just sighed. "Look, all of you can't just rely on belief anymore. Sure believing in something or someone is nice but Aunt Wu was wrong and the village was partially destroyed. Where is your gate? What happened to your graveyard? Both are buried underneath cooled lava. And your houses, what of their roofs? The falling debris set fire to them. You need an even amount of belief and reason, otherwise next time you could be buried under lava," she addressed them. The crowd of people actually took in her words.

          "How is it that you can get them to listen but I couldn't?" Sokka asked a bit salty.

          "Maybe because I don't shout at them," Celina offered and turned to see Aunt Wu smiling at her approvingly.

          The gang said their goodbyes to everyone as they got onto Appa, ready to head to the next stop on their adventure towards the North Pole.


	14. Bato of the Water Tribe

          "Hey look! A sword made out of a whale's tooth," Aang called out to his friends. They had landed a little while ago in an open to let Appa rest. Hearing what the sword was made of instantly drew the Water Tribe siblings' attention.

          Sokka was the first one to reach Aang and snatched the sword out of his hand. "Lemme see that," he said and began to examine the blade. "This is a water tribe weapon. See if you can find anything else." The four of them sent to work searching the area. Brushing away some leaves Celina managed to find a broken arrow on the ground.

          "I found an arrow!" she called out. Sokka, Katara, and Aang ran to her and Sokka took the arrow out of her hand.

          "It's burned," Sokka noticed and then tossed it aside before examining a tree with burn marks on it. "There was a battle. Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders." He proceeded down the hill and found more evidence of the battle. The other three followed closely behind him. "The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill."

          They ran down the hill and came to a beach. "So then what happened?" Aang asked.

          "I don't know. The trail ends here," Sokka admitted.

          "Wait, look!" Katara pointed to a beached boat that was clearly Water Tribe.

          "It's one of our boats!" Sokka exclaimed as they rushed up to it.

          "Is this Dad's boat?" Katara asked.

          "No, but it's from his fleet. Dad was here," Sokka smiled, examining the boat. Celina gave her brother a small smile. Sokka and Katara hadn't seen their father in years. She hoped this sign lifted their spirits along with their homesickness.

* * *

          The gang decided to set up camp next to the boat that night in case Water Tribe members came back for it. Night had fallen. Katara and Aang were asleep next to the fire that Celina watched Sokka tend from next to Appa. Her brother was deep in thought, staring into the flames. She was beginning to worry about him when they heard a sound.

          "Who's there?" Sokka demanded. Celina moved away from Appa and summoned some water in case they needed to fight. They were surprised to see a familiar face as a bandaged man walked into the light.

          "Celina? Sokka?"

          "Bato?" Celina and Sokka said shocked.

          "Who the want now?" Aang asked groggily as him and Katara woke up.

          "Bato!" Katara exclaimed as she and Sokka ran into Bato's arms.

          "Celina! Sokka! Katara! It is so good to see you three. Oh, you've grown so much," Bato said.

          "Hi, I'm Aang," Aang introduced.

          "Where's Dad?" Sokka asked.

          "Is he here?" Katara added.

          "No, he and the other warriors should be in the eastern Earth Kingdom by now," Bato told them. "This is no place for a reunion. Let's get inside." Bato wrapped his arms around Sokka and Katara's shoulders and motioned for Aang and Celina to follow. Celina chose to stick back with Aang and Appa instead of chumming it up with Bato like her siblings.

          "Why aren't you walking with them?" Aang asked her a bit confused.

          "It's complicated," Celina told him and continued walking. She didn't want to get into that just yet.

* * *

          Bato led them back to a monastery where he had been healing. "After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since," Bato told them before turning to a woman. "Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with the Avatar. I found them by my boat."

          "Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey," the Superior said to Aang, bowing to him.

          "Thank you!" Aang replied bowing himself. "It's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything…"

          "What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka interrupted, sniffing the air. Celina took a semi-deep breath, smelling all the scents that filled the abbey.

          "The sisters craft ointments and perfumes," he told them.

          "Perfume? Maybe we could dump some on Appa? Because he stinks so much! Am I right?" Sokka joked. Bato, Celina, and Katara just stared at him not amused.

          "You have your father's wit," Bato commented and then led the gang to his room. He opened the door and the Water Tribe siblings instantly felt the familiarity as Water Tribe décor was all over the place.

          "Bato! It looks like home!" Katara sighed.

          "Everything's here, even the pelts!" Sokka added.

          "Yeah, nothing's more comforting than dead animal skins," Aang commented feeling uncomfortable.

          "It's Water Tribe culture. When we kill an animal we typically use everything so that the animal hasn't died in vain," Celina explained to Aang. Aang understood but that didn't mean he felt any less uncomfortable. Katara walked over to a pot and opened it.

          "No way! Stewed sea prunes?" Katara exclaimed.

          "Help yourself," Bato offered.

          "Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things," Sokka commented.

          Katara quickly dished out bowls of stewed sea prunes and handed them out to Bato, Sokka, herself, and Aang.

          "Why didn't she hand you one?" Aang asked Celina. Once he took a sniff of the stew, however, he learned why.

          "While some Water Tribe dishes are great, stewed sea prunes has to be my least favorite," Celina told him. Aang set the untouched stew aside. Momo tasted the stew only to spit it back out.

          "Bato, is it true you and Dad lassoed an arctic hippo?" Katara asked.

          "It was your father's idea. He just dragged me along. Well, the hippo did the dragging," Bato chuckled.

          "Hey, I ride animals too! One time there was this giant eel…" Aang tried to join the conversation.

          Unfortunately, Sokka interrupted him again. "So who was it that came up with the great blubber fiasco?"

          "You knew about that?" Bato laughed.

          "Everyone does," Katara told him.

          "What's that story?" Aang asked.

          "It's a long one, Aang, some other time," Sokka dismissed.

          Celina sighed, she was happy that her siblings had someone familiar to talk to but they were pushing Aang and her to the side. She just slunk back to the wall and sat down.

          "You and Dad had so many hilarious adventures," Katara said.

          "Not all of which were hilarious at the time, but everything's funny with hindsight," Bato replied and then turned to see Aang wearing an animal skin headdress. "Aang, put that down, it's ceremonial and very fragile."

          Aang put the headdress back on the wall and then walked over to Celina feeling dejected.

          "Was it you or Dad that put an octopus on your head and convinced Gran Gran you were a water spirit?" Sokka asked.

          "Your dad wore the octopus, but I did the spooky voice," Bato told them.

          Celina closed her eyes and tried to block out their conversation. She had no desire to hear about Bato and Hakoda's adventures. Aang poked her shoulder, trying to get her attention. Celina opened her eyes and looked at Aang.

          "I don't understand. Why aren't you with them, talking about the good old days?" Aang asked confused.

          "I have no interest in discussing Hakoda's adventures," she told him.

          "Why do you call your dad by his first name?" Aang asked, still extremely confused.

          Celina sighed, "As you know I was adopted into their family. Well, it was our mother that was the one responsible for bringing me in. She was the one who found me abandoned out in a blizzard and brought me into her and Hakoda's hut. Sokka and Katara weren't born yet but they were planning on having a family. Our mother convinced him to take me in, saying that the bigger the family the better. Hakoda agreed but it was clear when Sokka and Katara were born who he favored. Don't get me wrong he treated me like his daughter but after our mom died… things changed between me and him.

          "As chief, he could get people to stop treating me as badly as they did but then he just stopped. He let it happened… I even heard him say to Gran Gran that he wished he could marry me off when he and the other men left. Apparently, he can't handle having a freak in the family. Bato is nice enough but with him being Hadoka's second in command it's a bit awkward. The only good thing is that at least Sokka and Katara get to see him. I might not have great feelings for Hadoka but that doesn't mean that they don't. He is their father after all and Bato is the closest they've gotten to him in two years."

          "Wow," Aang breathed, shocked. "That…"

          "Sucks," Celina finished. "Please don't tell Sokka or Katara. I don't want them hating their dad." Aang nodded and the two remained silent as Bato, Sokka, and Katara continued to talk, still in their own little world. The two of them perked up however when they heard Bato say something.

          "There's something I should tell you kids. I'm expecting a message from your father," Bato told them.

          "Really?" Katara gasped.

          "When?" Sokka asked.

          "Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait here until the message arrives you can come with me and see your father again," he informed them. Celina sensed Aang straighten up hearing this. She looked over and noticed that he looked worried.

          "It's been over two years since we've seen Dad! That would be so incredible wouldn't it Katara," Sokka said.

          "I do really miss him. It would be great to see Dad," Katara admitted. Aang got up from the floor and walked out of the room, causing Celina to only worry more about the young airbender.

          "It's been far too long, hasn't it? I'm not sure when word will arrive, but when it does…" Bato began to tell them.

          "Um… that's great but we can't," Celina interrupted. "We have to get Aang to the North Pole for him to learn waterbending. He still has to learn water, earth, and fire and we have a limited time to do so."

          "That's right," Sokka remembered

          "Even if we had time to wait for the message, who knows how far we'd travel. We don't have time for a long detour," Katara said.

          "I'm sure your father would understand and be proud that his children are helping the Avatar," Bato smiled and then turned to Celina. "So, Celina, I never knew you were a waterbender like your sister."

          "Yeah," Celina admitted shyly.

          "That's not even the craziest part. It turns out those imaginary friends everyone thought she was talking to are actually spirits," Sokka told him.

          "Really?" Bato asked amazed.

          "Sokka!" Celina exclaimed.

          "What? You can," Sokka asked confused as to why she was freaking out.

          "Yeah but that doesn't mean that we should be telling everybody about it. We're already on the run from the Fire Nation who are trying to hunt down Aang. They find out that I can communicate with the spirits like he can then we'll have even more trouble," Celina explained.

          "Wow, I didn't think about that," Sokka admitted.

          "Your father has to know though. Wow is he going to be excited when I tell him," Bato said.

          "I'm sure he will be," Celina muttered to herself and slunk back over to the wall. Bato, Sokka, and Katara went back to talking about Bato and Hakoda's adventures. Celina pulled out a piece of driftwood she found earlier and began carving it into the Hei Bei spirit.

          Aang returned a couple minutes later and started acting a bit strange. "Hey everyone! Sorry, I was gone so long," Aang apologized.

          "Hey, Aang, I didn't notice you left," Katara said.

          "Yup, but now I'm back. Sure could go for some delicious sea prunes!" he replied and sat down, grabbing the bowl of stewed sea prunes. Everyone looked at him strangely as Aang spooned a mouthful of stew and then proceeded to spit it out after a few seconds.

* * *

          The next morning Bato took the gang back out towards his boat, Celina and Aang more so following along to be a part of the group.

          "This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father," Bato told the kids.

          "Is this the boat he took you ice-dodging in?" Sokka asked.

          "Yeah, it's got the scar to prove it. How about you, Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice-dodging?" Bato asked Sokka who looked saddened by the question.

          "He never got to go," Celina answered for him.

          "Dad left before he was old enough," Katara added.

          "Oh, I forgot, you were too young," Bato realized.

          "What's ice-dodging?" Aang asked.

          "It's a rite of passage for young Water Tribe members. When you turn fourteen your Dad takes you… you know what, you're about to find out," Bato said and placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder. Sokka smiled widely.

          All of them boarded the boat and Celina used her waterbending to bend the boat back into the water. Bato steered the boat a bit out into the water before turning to the kids.

          "Ice-dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery, and trust. In our village it was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs," Bato explained.

          "How are we supposed to ice-dodge without ice?" Sokka asked a bit confused.

          "You will be dodging those," Bato answered pointing to the rocks ahead of them. He then turned around to explain everybody's roles. "Sokka, you steer and call the shots. Lead wisely. Katara, you secure the mainsail. The winds can be brutal, so be brave. Aang you control the jib, without your steady hand, we all go down. Your position is about trust."

          "I know that! Why wouldn't I know that? I'm the Avatar! I know about trust," Aang said hastily.

          "What about Celina? What's her job?" Katara asked.

          "Huh… there are typically only three spots for ice-dodging," Bato complicated.

          "Well, I can station myself at the front of the boat in case you need any waterbending done," Celina suggested.

          "That's not a bad idea," Bato smiled and then sat down next to the bow of the ship. "For this to be done right I cannot help. You pass or fail on your own."

          The gang nodded and the test began. Even though the four of them were a bit freaked out by the speed in which the boat was heading towards the rocks. Sokka, however, was quick to take charge.

          "Aang, ease up on the jib. Katara, steady! Aang, less sail!" Sokka ordered as he pulled the tiller to his right. "Katara, give him room!" Aang hauled the rope and the ship successfully weaving in and out of the rocks. "Aang! Helm to lee! Helm to lee!"

          "What does that even mean!?" Aang exclaimed. Celina thought quickly as they cut it close to one of the rocks, using her waterbending to prevent them from hitting it.

          "Great job!" Sokka congratulated after they cleared the huge pile of rocks. Looking forward confidence fell as they were heading straight towards a cul de sac, ringed by multiple jagged rocks, at high speed.

          "There's no way through!" Katara cried out.

          "We can make it!" Sokka assured.

          "Sokka, you've already proven yourself, maybe we should head back in," Bato tried to convince him.

          "No, I'm certain we can do this. Celina! Get us over those rocks with the biggest wave you can muster!" Sokka ordered

          "On it!" Celina called back.

          Taking a deep breath she reached out to the water that was carrying the boat and bended it into a huge wave. Pushing the water forward Celina accelerated the wave, causing the water to safely carry the boat over the ring of jagged rocks. Sokka sighed in relief as he fell back into the tiller. Smiles were on everyone's faces as the cheered as they made their way back to the shore. Once back Bato got them all in a line and mixed up some black face paint.

          "The spirits of water bear witness to these marks. For Celina, the Mark of the Creative," Bato announced.

          "You made that up," Celina smirked.

          "Yes, but it is so rightfully deserved. Your creativity and thinking outside of the box with your waterbending helped guide the ship to safety," Bato explained and then drew two swirls coming out of a line on her forehead. "For Sokka, the Mark of the Wise, the same mark your father earned." Bato moved over to Sokka and marked his forehead with a dot and a half circle above it. Sokka beamed with pride, receiving his father's mark. "For Katara, the Mark of the Brave. Your courage inspires us." He marked Katara's forehead with a crescent. "And for Aang, the Mark of the Trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Water Tribe." Bato finished by marking Aang's forehead with a half circle.

          "I can't," Aang said, a guilty look on his face.

          "Of course you can!" Katara told him.

          "No, you can't trust me," Aang said and wiped the mark off his forehead.

          "Aang, what are you talking about?" Celina asked confused.

          With his head hung low Aang held out a crumpled piece of parchment to Katara. She opened it up and gasped seeing what was on the parchment. "A messenger gave this to me for Bato," Aang told them. "You have to understand, I was afraid you'd…"

          "This is the map to our father!" Sokka exclaimed angrily once he saw what the parchment was. "You had it the whole time!? How could you? Well, you can go to the North Pole on your own! I'm going to find Dad." He began to stalk away back to the abbey to collect his things.

          "Now Sokka, I think you should…" Bato said trying to calm him down.

          "Celina, Katara, are you with me?" he asked.

          "No!" Celina refused. "Use your brain Sokka, Aang was just scared that we'd…"

          "I'm with you, Sokka," Katara agreed and stalked off with Bato and Sokka.

          Aang began to shake as tears fell down his face. Celina engulfed him in her arms, hugging him close as he muttered sorry over and over into his shoulder. "It's okay Aang," Celina whispered. "I understand. I understand."

* * *

          Celina and Aang sat on top of Appa the next morning watching as Bato, Sokka, and Katara headed out carrying backpacks. Aang was still dejected about everything while Celina was still disappointed with her siblings for giving up on Aang so easily. Katara looked like she was going to say goodbye to them but seeing the look on Celina's face stopped her.

          "I guess we should be moving on," Aang sighed once the others were out of sight and shook Appa's reigns. The sky bison walked them out of the gate and in an opposite direction of Bato, Sokka, and Katara. "I'm an idiot."

          "No you're not, Aang," Celina told him, rubbing his back in trying to comfort him. "You were just scared and made a mistake." Aang just stayed silent until they reached where Bato's ship was on the beach. Aang stalled, hoping that Sokka and Katara would come back but sighed after a few minutes.

          "Looks like it's just us," Aang said dejected.

          "Avatar! You must leave!" the Superior of the abbey exclaimed, rushing towards them.

          "Okay, I get it everybody wants me gone," Aang said a bit annoyed.

          "A group of people came to the abbey looking for you," the Superior told him.

          "Who?" Aang asked.

          "A fierce looking woman with a horrible monster and a young man with a scar," she explained.

          Celina and Aang shared a look. "Zuko," the both realized.

          "The beast was using the scent of a necklace to follow you," the Superior continued.

          "A necklace?" Aang said confused.

          Celina's eyes went wide as realizing who's necklace Zuko must be using. "Katara!" she exclaimed.

          "You must leave," the Superior urged them.

          "We can't, those are my friends Zuko's after," Aang argued.

          "And my little siblings," Celina added. "I'm sure Zuko's got them by now. All they need is something with your scent on it and they're back on our trail, but this time with leverage."

          "We need a plan," Aang said.

          "We need the element of surprise," Celina muttered and pondered what to do. She smirked before looking at the Superior. "Lady Superior, we're gonna need a favor."

* * *

          Celina laid flat on the roof of the abbey as Aang soared around in circles above the courtyard. She came up with a quick plan that would hopefully confuse and surprise Zuko. Now it was just a waiting game until he came back with her siblings. It didn't take long until the monster, a shirshu came busting through the abbey gate sending the sisters running away in terror. Zuko was riding the beast and Celina saw that her siblings were lying on its back. It appeared that they were paralyzed. Celina smirked when all the shirshu did was walk around in a circle, her plan was working.

          "What's it doing? It's just going around in a circle!" Zuko growled annoyed. Aang flew at the shirshu who tried to snap at him. The creature missed but managed to dump Zuko and the rest of them off his back. Katara cried out, happy to see her friend.

          A woman in dark clothes got up and whipped the ground. The shirshu got to its feet, roared, and then the woman jumped back onto it back. She was about to charge at Aang when Celina jumped down from the roof and water wiped the rider off. Appa came charging out and plowed the shirshu into the wall of a building. Celina smiled up at Appa who grumbled at her in response.

          The woman and her shirshu were quick to get back up and before they had time to react Appa had gotten hit with its tongue multiple times in the leg. The sky bison collapsed as it was paralyzed.

          "Appa!" Celina cried out.

          "Oh, is that your pet? Well let me introduce you to mine," the woman smirked. She cracked her whip and the shirshu attention turned to Celina. Celina took a step back and drew her water into a defensive position. What surprised the two, however, was when the shirshu didn't do anything. It merely sniffed Celina and backed down.

          "What?" the woman gasped confused. She cracked her whip several more times but the shirshu refused to touch Celina. "How?!"

          "What can I say, animals love me," Celina sassed and then sent a gush of water at the woman, sending her flying back into the wall and knocking her unconscious.

          Celina turned to go help Aang when Zuko fell from the air in front of her, followed by some water raining down which she waterbended away from her. She couldn't help but chuckle seeing him fall on his face. Zuko got up and began to attack Aang again but this time Celina stepped into to help fight him off. It was water and air against fire. During their battle, Celina smelled a bunch of perfume before seeing it be dropped onto the shirshu.

          "Aang, get us out of here," she told the airbender. Thinking fast Aang pulled out his glider and flew him and Celina onto the roof. Zuko wanted to follow but got hit with the shirshu's tongue as it lashed out in an overload of smells. The woman from before regained consciousness just in time to be hit as well.

          "June! Nooo!" Iroh cried out and caught her before she hit the ground. The shirshu ran into a couple jars before jumping over the walls of the abbey. Iroh, Zuko, and the woman, June all laid on the ground.

          "Uncle? I didn't see you get hit will the tongue," Zuko mentioned.

          "Shh!" Iroh hushed.

          "Nice thinking guys," Aang complemented Sokka and Katara who were up and walking again.

          "We best get out of here before they can move again," Celina suggested. The three nodded then got on Appa who flew them away from the abbey and Zuko.

* * *

          "So, where do we go?" Aang asked Sokka and Katara from the driver's seat. He still believed that they wanted to see their father so at the moment they were just flying in a random direction to put distance between them and Zuko.

          "We're getting you to the North Pole," Katara told him.

          "Yeah, we've lost too much time as it is," Sokka said.

          "Good to see that you two came to your senses," Celina smiled.

          "Don't you want to see your father?" Aang asked confused.

          "Of course we do, Aang. But you're our family too, and right now you need us more," Sokka told him.

          "And we need you," Katara added.

          "I wish I could give you a little piece of home, Katara. Something to remind you," Aang admitted.

          "I'll be okay," Katara tried to assure him.

          "Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like this!" Aang said and then pulled out her necklace, offering it to her. There was a huge smile on both of their faces.

          Katara was quick to grab it and put it back on her neck where it belonged. "Aang, how did you get that?" she asked.

          "Zuko asked to be sure I got it to you," Aang joked.

          "So that's why you were doing all those fancy moves," Celina smirked.

          "Oh, that's so sweet of Zuko. Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?" Katara asked in mock appreciation. She proceeded to kiss Aang's cheek, causing him to blush. Celina awed at the cute site while Sokka just rolled his eyes. Celina took over the reins and steered Appa north.


	15. The Deserter

         The gang stood in front of a circular notice board, inspecting all the posters on it. It was Katara's idea, hoping that they could find out some information on a village or something. Especially since Sokka had pretty much depleted their food supply.

         "This should give us a good idea of what's around here," Katara said to herself.

         "See if you can find a menu, I'm starving," Sokka complained. Aang walked up to the girls to search the board himself. He pointed out a colorful flyer.

         "I bet we'll find something to eat here! The Fire Days Festival," Aang said and then began to read the flyer out loud. "Fire Nation cultural exhibits, jugglers, benders, magicians. This'd be a great place for me to study some real firebenders!"

         "You might want to rethink that. Look at this," Sokka called out concerned. Celina, Katara, and Aang walked over to where Sokka was on the other side of the notice board. This side happened to be filled with all sorts of wanted posters and it was clear seeing a familiar blue arrow what he was concerned about.

         "Hey, a poster of me!" Aang smiled.

         "A wanted poster. This is bad," Celina told him. She ripped the poster off the board and then handed it to Aang.

         Katara peered at it. "I think we better keep moving," Katara said.

         "I have to learn firebending at some point, and this could be my only chance to watch a master up close," Aang whined.

         "I guess we could check it out," Katara submitted.

         "What!? You want to walk into a Fire Nation town where they're all fired up with all their, you know, fire?" Sokka exclaimed, astonished by their decision.

         "Yeah, I'm not so sure about this guys," Celina said, agreed with her brother.

         "We'll wear disguises and if it looks like trouble, we'll leave," Katara explained and then walked over to Appa with Aang.

         "Yeah, because we always leave before we get into trouble," Sokka replied sarcastically before walking over to them.

         Celina went to join them as well but a wanted poster caught her attention. It was one of the mystery man she met in the forest back when Sokka and Katara were sick. Apparently, he was called the Blue Spirit. She reached up and pulled the poster down before stuffing it into her pocket. He helped free Aang from Zhao so this Blue Spirit was a good guy in her book, she might as well help him out by taking down his wanted poster.

* * *

         The gang got into their disguises; Celina, Sokka, and Katara putting on cloaks while Aang merely pulled the back of his shirt over his head. It took Celina a bit not to facepalm seeing Aang's "disguise". Sokka even made a sarcastic comment about Aang was "a whole different person". But despite the bad feeling in Celina and Sokka's gut, the gang made their way to the Fire Nation town. Once they got there they realized the major flaw in their disguises as people walked around wearing masks or in costume.

         "I think we need some new disguises," Katara stated.

         "Where are we gonna get masks like that?" Sokka asked skeptical and annoyed.

         "Get your genuine Fire Festival masks here!" a merchant shouted from behind them. The gang turned around and saw a cart full of different masks.

         "That was easy," Celina muttered and then ran over to the cart. Celina and Katara were quick to find feminine masks for themselves before turning to Sokka and Aang who were browsing through the selections. When she saw Sokka reaching for a mask with a large smile and Aang reached for a mask with a large frown Celina swatted their hands away and then handed the boy the opposite masks they were reaching for. They put them on, Aang's smile being hidden by an exaggerated on while Sokka's frown was hidden by a scowl. "That's much better."

         With their masks on the gang made their way through the festival, checking out the sights along the way. "Hey, there's some food," Aang pointed out. Sokka instantly ran ahead to the merchant.

         "What do you have?" he asked.

         "Flaming fire flakes! Best in town," the merchant answered, showing him the small bag of flakes.

         "I'll take 'em!" Sokka smiled and grabbed the bag from the merchant's hands. Sokka began to stuff them into his mouth but then started screaming and blowing steam from his mouth. "Aaahhh! Hot! Hot!"

         "Flaming fire flakes hot? What do you know?" Celina sassed and then tossed some flakes into her mouth. She had to admit that they were spicy but it wasn't as bad as Sokka was making them out to be.

         "How are you able to eat those?" Sokka asked, fanning his tongue.

         "What can I say? I can handle the heat," Celina shrugged and continued snacking on the fire flakes.

         "Hey, look at this," Aang piped in, pointing at a puppet show.

         The audience mainly consisted of young children but Aang dragged the others towards the show. The puppet stage's curtains opened and a puppet of the Fire Lord appeared. The kids cheered.

         "Don't worry loyal citizens! No one can surprise the Fire Lord!" the puppet said. Behind the puppet Fire Lord, an earthbending puppet showed up with a rock. Before the earthbending puppet had time to through the rock the Fire Lord puppet turned around and torched the earthbender. The children cheered while it made the gang uneasy.

         They moved on towards another stage that held a single performer. The performer was a firebender who was manipulating fire for the crowd. He was currently doing a juggling trick which he ended by extinguishing the fire. In doing this he produced a flock of small white birds that flew off the stage and above the crowd. It was obvious to Celina that this guy was simply a magician.

         "I gotta learn that trick!" Aang said excited.

         "Thank you! For my next trick, I need a volunteer from the audience!" the magician asked.

         "Oh! Oh! Me! Me!" Aang volunteered, waving his hand about. Sokka grabbed Aang's arm and yanked it down.

         "What do you think you're doing?" Sokka whispered angry.

         "I want to get a closer look," Aang answered.

         "Is better that we don't attract any attention to ourselves," Katara told him.

         "Besides, he's just a magician. Not like you'd learn any real firebending from him," Celina pointed out.

         "How about you, miss?" the magician asked pointing to Celina.

         "Uh… alright," Celina submitted a bit nervous.

         "Awww! That could've been me," Aang whined.

         "What are you doing?" Sokka whispered, catching her arm before she got up onto the stage.

         "It would only look more suspicious if I didn't agree to the trick. Besides, even if I did get unmasked I look more Fire Nation than the rest of you," Celina whispered back before stepping up onto the stage next to the magician. The audience applauded and the magician ushered her over to a chair, seating her there.

         "This next trick is called 'Taming the Dragon'. You will be my captured princess!" he informed the crowd. The magician pulled out a rope and tied Celina up to the chair. He began to firebend a huge comet from the top of pillars set on the stage. The magician looped the fire around Celina, controlled by a flame rope. "Don't worry, young maiden! I will tame this fiery beast!" He continued to play with the fire a bit more before going into the next bit. "It's too strong, I can't hold it!"

         Celina tensed. She knew that this was just a trick and that the magician had everything under control, that the fire breaking free was all part of the act. But she really hoped that the others knew that. Celina noticed that Sokka was trying to talk Aang out of something and she got a bad feeling.

         "The rope, it's breaking!" the magician shouted. The rope indeed broke and the comet of fire charged at Celina. She bit her lip, trying not to cry out in fear.

         "It's just a trick. It's just a trick. It's just a trick," Celina repeated over and over again in her head. Aang did not think that this was the case however and airbended himself up onto the stage. He stood in front of Celina and created a whirlwind that dissipated the comment only to reveal a shower of confetti.

         "Hey, you trying to upstage me kid?" the magician asked peeved off. The crowd booed at Aang as he tried to amuse them with a little dance. Katara and Sokka got up on stage to untie Celina. When she was free someone from the audience spoke up.

         "Hey! That kid's the Avatar!"

         Aang froze as they recognized him and three Fire Nation guards began to approach the stage, trying to move through the crowd of people. The gang all removed their masks, seeing how they were found out.

         "I think it's time to go," Sokka said.

         "Follow me! I can get ya outta here!" a mysterious man in a mask called to them from off stage.

         The gang looked at each other and nodded before following the man through a broken wall. He threw a smoke bomb at the approaching guards, obscuring the view. The gang and the man ran through the town square and alley. Guards were quick to find them again, however.

         "I'm calling Appa!" Aang told the group.

         "I hope he can really hear that bison whistle!" Sokka said after Aang blew into the bison whistle.

         "This way!" the man said and then led them into a dead end. "Okay! Not this way!"

         They turned to leave but the exit was blocked by guards. The masked man threw another smoke bomb at them and then the group ran into another alley that happened to be another dead end blocked off by a high wall. Luckily for the group, Appa arrived just in time, landing between the kids and the guards. Appa flapped his tail and blew the guards out of the alley. The group got on board Appa and flew up into the air before the guards could get them. As they were flying away the masked man threw a bomb down into a supply of fireworks, blowing them up in an amazing display of colors.

         "Nice touch setting off the fireworks," Aang complimented.

         "You seem to really know your explosives," Sokka noticed.

         "I'm familiar," the man told them as he took off his mask.

         "You're a Fire Nation soldier!" Sokka exclaimed surprised.

         "Was. My name's Chey," the man clarified.

* * *

         Night had fallen as the gang gathered around a campfire. Celina sat close to Appa, running her fingers through his fur while he dozed. They all paid attention while Chey explained his story.

         "I serve a man. More than a man really, he's a myth, but he's real, a living legend, Jeong Jeong the Deserter. He was a Fire Nation general… or wait, was he an admiral?" Chey tried to explain.

         "He was a very highly ranked, we get it," Sokka said impatient.

         "Yeah! Way up there! But he couldn't take the madness anymore. He's the first person ever to leave the army and live. I'm the second but you don't get a legend for that. That's okay though. Jeong Jeong's a firebending genius. Some say he's mad but he's not. He's enlightened," Chey continued.

         "You mean there's a firebender out here who's not with the Fire Lord? We've gotta go see him! He can train me!" Aang exclaimed excited.

         "We're not going to find some crazy firebender!" Sokka protested.

         "He's not crazy! He's a genius! And he's the perfect person to train the Avatar! That's why I followed you into the festival," Chey told them.

         "Look, thanks for the help, but we're leaving for the North Pole in the morning," Sokka decided.

         "Sokka, this could be my only chance to meet a firebending master who would actually be willing to teach me," Aang said hurt.

         "It can't hurt just to talk to him," Katara added.

         "That's what you said about going to the festival! Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me!" Sokka complained and went to leave the campfire, almost to run into a spear that was pointed at him. The everyone gasped when they discovered that they were surrounded, spears pointing at them.

* * *

         The men ended up leading them through the forest. "Jeong Jeong told you not to look for the Avatar!" one of the men growled at Chey.

         "You know these guys?" Celina asked.

         "Oh yeah! Lin Yi's an old buddy!" Chey answered. "Right Lin Yi?"

         "Shut up! Keep moving!" Lin Yi told Chey.

         "Some old buddy," Celina muttered to herself as they kept moving. They continued on through the forest and down a hill to where a small shack was located.

         "Go on. He sees you only," Lin Yi told Chey.

         "Oh that's okay, we can chat later," Chey replied, trying to get out of it

         "Is that where Jeong Jeong is?" Aang asked. "I need to talk to him right away." Aang went to move forward but was stopped by Lin Yi's spear.

         "No! You wait there," he told Aang and then pushed Chey forward. "Go now!"

         "Don't worry! Everything'll be fine. He's a great man, great man!" Chey told the gang and walked towards the shack. He stalled for a minute before walking inside.

         Sokka and Katara fell asleep while they waited for Chey to come back from talking with Jeong Jeong. Celina simply went back to working on her Hei Bei carving she started back at the abbey. It was coming along pretty well, soon she'd need to get some ash to define the features. Aang was on the verge of falling asleep when Chey finally came out of the shack. The others woke up as Chey approached them.

         "What happened? Can I see Jeong Jeong now?" Aang asked.

         "He won't see you," Chey told him glumly. "He's very angry that I brought you here. He wants you to leave immediately."

         "Finally! Let's hit the road," Sokka stretched.

         "Why won't he see me?" Aang asked.

         "He says you're not ready. Says you haven't mastered waterbending and earthbending yet." Chey explained.

         "Wait, how does he know that?" Aang questioned.

         "He saw the way you walked into camp. He can tell," Chey explained.

         "Aang, it's not that big a deal. We can just come back when you're ready," Celina tried to assure him but Aang wasn't having it.

         "I'm going in any way!" Aang huffed and marched his way over to Jeong Jeong's hut. He took a deep breath and then walked inside.

         "This can't go good," Sokka commented.

         Everyone waited while Aang talked to Jeong Jeong. Celina took in a shaking breath as she felt a familiar presence fill the air. Roku was near. It made her just as uneasy as when he made an appearance back in the Fire Nation temple. Once the feeling of his presence disappeared Aang walked out of the shack with a large smile on his face.

         "He said he'll teach me!" Aang informed them excited.

         "Really?" Katara asked amazed.

         "Yeah, he must have changed his mind," Aang said and sat down.

         "I think that was more Roku's doing," Celina commented. Everyone turned and looked at her. "I felt his presence when Aang was talking to Jeong Jeong. It was the same feeling when Roku took over your body to destroy the temple back in the Fire Nation. It disappeared before you came out."

         "Thanks, Roku," Aang looked up at the sky and smiled. Celina couldn't help but frown, she had a feeling that things wouldn't go well.

* * *

         Celina and Katara stood on the edge of the river practicing their water bending. She had just taught Katara a new move and was working with her to improve it. Sokka sat on a boulder trying to fish while Aang stood on a flat stone in the river, waiting for Jeong Jeong to instruct him on what to do.

         "Widen your stance," Jeong Jeong said and Aang complied. "Wider! Bend your knees. Now, concentrate. Good, good." Jeong Jeong began to walk away.

         "Wait! What do I do now?" Aang asked.

         "Silence! Talking is not concentrating! Look at your friends, are they talking?" Jeong Jeong said pointing at Celina and Katara and then pointed at Sokka. "Even that oaf knows to concentrate on what he's doing!"

         "Hey!" Sokka exclaimed offended.

         "But what am I concentrating on?" Aang asked.

         "Feel the heat of the sun. It is the greatest source of fire. Yet, it is in complete balance with nature," Jeong Jeong explained.

         "So when do I get to make some fire?" Aang asked.

         "Concentrate!" he shouted at him. Sokka and Celina laughed at Aang but stopped when he looked at them.

         "Come on, Katara, once again. Your water was a bit shaky that time. Remember to treat it as an extension of your arm, it will help make your movements smoother," Celina instructed. She showed Katara the move once more and then watched as she tried to replicate it.

         Jeong Jeong walked up to Celina curious. "Your instructions are quite good. Are you a master?" he asked her.

         "Me a master? No, we're heading to the North Pole for that. I'm just the most practiced with waterbending out of all of us," Celina answered.

         "Who taught you?" he asked.

         "Myself," she replied.

         "Hmm. It would be interesting to see how you fair against a master," Jeong Jeong commented and walked away.

         "Um… thank you?" Celina said, not knowing if that was a compliment or not.

* * *

         The day progressed. Jeong Jeong took Aang up to a mountain, they had a fight about training, Aang apologized to Jeong Jeong, and then they were back where they began that morning, training once again. Celina and Katara stood off to the side and watched. Jeong Jeong caught a leaf and burnt a tiny hole in the middle of it.

         "Concentrate on the fire. I want you to keep this flame from reaching the edges of the leaf for as long as you can," Jeong Jeong told Aang, handing Aang the leaf. He got into the stance from earlier and concentrated on the leaf in his hands. A guard appeared interrupting the lesson.

         "Master! There is trouble," he informed Jeong Jeong.

         "What's going on?" Aang asked worried.

         "Concentrate on your leaf," Jeong Jeong told him as he left with the guard.

         "This is the worst firebending instruction ever. All he does is leave me along for hours to concentrate or breathe," Aang complained.

         "I'm sure there's a good reason," Katara said, trying to calm Aang down.

         "It's important to have the basics down," Celina told him.

         "But I'm ready to do so much more," Aang groaned. Suddenly his face lit up and he widened his stance. Aang concentrated as the leaf began to smoke before bursting into flame.

         Aang stood there holding a fireball, ecstatic. "I did it! I made fire!"

         "Aang, that's great, but you should take it slow," Katara told him. Aang was annoyed by Katara's comment and the flame became bigger. "Careful!" He was quick to gain control of the flame again and reduce its size.

         "Now that's firebending!" Aang smiled

         "That's reckless," Celina commented but Aang ignored her. He shot a whip of flame and then began to try and juggle it.

         "Aang, you'll hurt yourself!" Katara cried out worried.

         "I wonder how that juggler did it?" Aang wondered to himself, continuing to play with his flame. He looped the ball around him, causing it to form a circle around him that pushed out. A lick of flame shot towards Katara who raised her hands to try and protect her face. She let out a cry as it burnt her hands.

         "Katara!" Celina shouted. She was quick to rush over to her sister, taking her in her arms. Katara held her hands close to her as tears of pain fell down her face.

         "Katara, I'm so sorry!" Aang apologized.

         The cries brought the attention of Sokka who came rushing over to everyone. "Katara what's wrong?" he asked before turning to Aang angry. "What did you do?"

         "It… it was an accident! I was… Katara, I'm so…" Aang tried to explain and tried to apologize again. Sokka cut him off however as he tackled the airbender to the ground when he went to reach for Katara.

         "I told you we shouldn't mess around with this! Look what you did! You burned my sister!" Sokka shouted at Aang.

         Celina noticed that the yelling was only upsetting Katara more and lead her away. "Come on, Katara, let's go heal those burns," Celina said gently and lead her down the river where they could be alone.

         Once they got a certain distance away Celina brought Katara down on the edge of the river. "Put your hands in the water, Katara. It will help," Celina instructed. Katara did as she said as the young girl continued to cry. She winced at first but then relaxed as she felt some relief. Celina could help but smile when she noticed a familiar blue glow appear around Katara's hands. Katara's eyes widened in surprise when the glowing stopped and she pulled out her hands to discover that her burns were healed. "I was wondering if you'd be able to heal when I found out that I could."

         "The great benders of the Water Tribe sometimes have healing abilities." The girls jumped and turned to see the Jeong Jeong had approached them. "I've always wished I were blessed like you… free from this burning curse."

         "But you're a great master. You have powers I'll never know," Katara replied confused.

         "Water brings healing and life. But fire brings only destruction and pain. It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually, we are torn apart," Jeong Jeong explained.

         The conversation was interrupted when the water in front of them was blasted with gouts of flames. Jeong Jeong and Celina were quick to get into a defensive stance in front of Katara. Jeong Jeong used his firebending to break the flames while Celina bended a wall of water to stop a second wave that was sent at them. They looked up to see Zhao standing on a riverboat.

         "You two go get your friends and flee! Do not come back here or you will all be destroyed. Hurry!" Jeong Jeong told them. Celina grabbed hold of Katara's arm and dragged her away to go find Sokka and Aang. There was no way that she wanted to fight Zhao. They ran back to where they set up camp and saw Sokka preparing Appa to leave. He was surprised to see his sisters.

         "Katara! Are you all right?" he asked, still worried about her burns.

         "I'm fine, we've got to get out of here. Where's Aang?" she replied. Sokka pointed down in the direction of Jeong Jeong's hut and Katara took off to go get him.

         "Celina, what's going on?" Sokka asked confused.

         "Zhao's here and I'm pretty sure that he and his men captured Jeong Jeong. He told us to get out of here before he got captured," Celina explained.

         "Well then let's go," Sokka said and tossed the remained bag up into Appa's saddle. He was climbing up into the saddle when Katara came running back to them without Aang.

         "What's going on? Where's Aang?" Celina asked her sister.

         "He went to go help Jeong Jeong," Katara told them.

         "That kid just loves danger," Sokka groaned. "Come one, we gotta go get him."

         "I call driving!" Celina shouted and climbed up into the driver's position on Appa.

         "Why do you get to drive?" Sokka whined.

         "Because Appa likes me better," Celina smirked and received a grumble from Appa, confirming her statement. Once her siblings got on she took control of the reins. "Yip yip!"

         Appa took off into the air and the three of them began to search for Aang. They flew up and down the river since Celina and Katara last saw Zhao on his riverboat. The flames coming up here and there made it easy for the three to locate Aang. The Water Tribe siblings got there to see Aang jump into the water while Zhao stood on a flaming boat. Celina landed Appa on the river bank so that he'd be able to climb on.

         "Have a nice walk home!" Aang taunted Zhao.

         "Aang, come on!" Sokka shouted to him. Seeing them there Aang got out of the river and hoped into Appa's saddle. Celina was quick to take off before Zhao could try anything.

         "Wait! Where's Jeong Jeong?" Aang asked worried.

         "He disappeared. They all did," Sokka answered him. It was true, while they were searching for Aang they noticed that the guards from before had disappeared, leaving their encampment eerily silent.

         "Aang, you're burned," Celina noticed. "Katara, can you take care of him for me? I'm kinda busy at the moment." Katara nodded and pulled water from her skin. Katara placed it over Aang's burned area and breathed. Concentrating she healed Aang's wounds much to Sokka and Aang's surprise.

         "When did you learn how to do that?" Sokka asked.

         "Celina helped me learn when I got burned," Katara answered looking admiringly at her older sister.

         "I knew you had it in you. Now we're the ultimate waterbending sisters. Good at fighting and healing," Celina smiled at her.

         "Oh, well thanks for all the first aid over the years. Like when I fell into the grease briar bramble and that time I had two fish hook in my thumb!" Sokka complained.

         "Two?" Aang laughed.

         "He tried to get the first fish hook out with another fish hook," Katara told him.

         "Took me a good hour or so getting those out," Celina murmured remembering the incident.

         "Oh, and the time that big snake bit me! Thanks for healing that up. That was great. Really helpful," he continued. Celina just rolled her eyes and focused on flying through afternoon sky.


	16. The Northern Air Temple

**__**The gang was sat down on a few benches behind some kneeling children as they all listened to a man in front of a fire. They landed a little while ago for a short break when Aang discovered that the man was talking about airbenders. He dragged the others to listen to his stories.

          "So travelers, the next time you think you hear a strange large bird talking, take a closer look. It might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man! A member of a secret group of air walkers who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it!" the storyteller finished. Aang's smile was the widest Celina had seen in a while.

          "Aren't airbender stories the best?" Aang said to them.

          "Was it realistic? Was that how it was back then?" Katara asked him.

          "I laugh at gravity all the time. Haha! Gravity," Aang laughed.

          The storyteller came up to them and shoved a hat in Sokka's face. "Jingle, jingle," he said, hoping to get some more coins. Sokka reached into his pocket but only pulled out lint. He shot the man an apologetic look. "Cheapskates!"

          "Here," Celina said and pulled out a copper piece from her pocket, much to the storyteller's delight.

          "Thank you, Miss," he said and then went to leave. Aang stopped him, however.

          "Hey, thanks for the story! It means a lot to hear airbender stories. It must have been hundred years ago your great grandpa met them," Aang said.

          "What are you prattling about, child? Great grand-pappy saw the air walkers last week!" the storyteller told him. They looked over to see the storyteller's great grand-pappy waving at them, very much alive. Aang turned back to his friends and Celina could already see the hope in his eyes.

* * *

          Aang made it his mission to try and find the airbenders that the storyteller told them about. He dragged the Water Tribe siblings onto Appa as soon as dawn broke the next day, much to Sokka's annoyance. Aang was currently in the driver's seat steering Appa in the direction of an Air Temple.

          "Hey, we're almost at the Northern Air Temple! This is where they had the championships for the sky bison polo," Aang told them excited.

          "Do you think we'll really find airbenders?" Katara asked her siblings.

          "You want me to be like you, or totally honest?" Sokka asked back.

          "Are you saying I'm a liar?" Katara questioned annoyed.

          "I'm saying you're an optimist. Same thing basically," Sokka replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

          "What do you think, Celina?" Katara asked, ignoring Sokka.

          "The airbenders were wiped out years ago. I think that man gave Aang false hope," Celina admitted.

          "Hey guys, look at this!" Aang called back to them. Everyone looked forward to see the Northern Air Temple in front of them sitting on top of a mountainous peak, just like the Southern Temple they visited. Except unlike the Southern Temple, this one had people flying around on gliders. Celina was amazed that there were actually people here but when she noticed Aang's smile turned into a frown she knew that they weren't the airbenders Aang was hoping for.

          "Huh! They really are airbenders!" Katara exclaimed,

          "No, they're not," Aang said unhappily.

          "What do you mean they're not? Those guys are flying?" Sokka questioned.

          "Gliding maybe, but not flying. You can tell by the way they move. They're not airbending. Those people have no spirit," Aang told them. A kid in a glider soared right over their head, laughing in delight. The biggest thing that stood out to Celina, however, was that he was gliding in a wheelchair.

          "I don't know, Aang. That kid seems pretty spirited," Katara pointed out. Seeing his friends impressed by the boy Aang grabbed his gliders and took off, flying around Appa to try and one up the kid. Celina was quick to take control of Appa's reins.

          "It's best we land," Celina told her siblings. She landed Appa gracefully on one of the temple's terraces before they looked back to watch Aang and the other boy. The three were joined by some of the Air Temples residents.

          "Go, Teo! Show that bald kid how it's done!" one of them shouted, cheering on his friend in the wheelchair.

          It looked like it was a game of tag that the two were performing as they soared through the sky. The boy, Teo hit his brakes and ended up behind Aang. They twirled around each other in a dive, neck and neck with each other. Aang suddenly broke his descent and shoot straight upwards. The kids of the temple gasped when they saw him let go of his glider and run alongside one of the temple's tower walls. Aang proceeded to create an air scooter and rode it along the walls, his glider still gliding beside him. He let the scooter die before grabbing hold of his glider and soaring back into the sky.

          Teo looked impressed but then went to try and impress Aang. He released a cord on his glider and a cylinder on the back of his glider started to leave a trail of smoke. Manipulating his glider he created loops and arcs of smoke behind him. When he was done it was revealed to be a picture of Aang's face with a sour expression. The crowd of temple residents laughed at this. Sokka and Katara chuckled as well though Celina couldn't help but worry about how this would affect Aang's already sour mood.

          The boy in question landed next to his friends and folded his glider back up. Teo landed close to them and a bunch of kids came to detach the glider from his wheelchair. He then wheeled himself over to Aang and the others.

          "Hey! You're a real airbender! You must be the Avatar. That's amazing. I... I… I've heard stories about you," Teo geeked out over Aang.

          "Thanks," Aang replied a bit embarrassed but happier than before.

          "Wow! This glider chair is incredible!" Sokka said impressed.

          "If you think this is good wait until you see the other stuff my Dad designed," Teo told them.

          He began to wheel away, leading the others around the temple. They moved through the huge main gates of the temple into the main chamber. The room was dominated by a jumble of machinery like wheels and gears and pipes, all powered by steam. There was the statue airbender monk in the chamber, almost hidden away by the machinery.

          "Wow!" Sokka smiled seeing everything.

          "Yeah, my Dad is the mastermind behind this whole place! Everything's powered by hot air. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a life when we're gliding," Teo explained.

          Everyone looked over to see a woman walk over to a cage and get in. She pulled a rope and the steam lifted the cage up to a higher level. "Wow, it's all so advanced," Celina commented, impressed by the mechanics as well.

          "This place is unbelievable," Aang said.

          "Yeah, it's great isn't it?" Teo replied.

          "No, just unbelievable," Aang repeated sullenly. He walked away from them and towards a mural; saddened by everything he's seen, leaving Teo confused.

          "Aang used to come here a long time ago. I think he's a little shocked it's so… different," Katara tried to explain.

          "So better!" Sokka added.

          Celina elbowed her brother in his ribs for being so insensitive. Katara walked over to Aang to talk to him. Celina watched as both of them looked at a dirtied mural that had pipes coming out in places. It was clear that underneath the dirt it was supposed to be a history of the airbenders. Aang didn't stay there long before a heading over to a fountain. It had been altered with green industrial looking things that bubbled and spurted. The statue of the fountain suddenly emitted a cloud of black smoke from its mouth, causing Aang to jump back. Celina had to admit that she could see Aang's disgust about that.

          "I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same," Katara said.

          "Oh yeah, there's this one place," Teo confirmed. He led the gang across a narrow, suspended pathway from the main temple into another building. Once inside they discovered that the main courtyard was untouched with airbender statues here and there.

          "It's nice to see even one part of the temple that isn't ruined," Aang smiled.

          His smile quickly disappeared when a wrecking ball smashed through a wall and the statue that he and Katara had been looking at. Everyone began to cough because of the dust and debris that filled the air. When the dust settled they looked over to see a bunch of people looking at them through the newly created hole. One of them was a middle-aged man with a bald head and patched of pointy hair on the side of his head. His right eye had a red monocle and he wore a green tunic covered by a white artisan smock.

          "What the doodle! Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse," he scolded them.

          "Do you know what you did? You destroyed something sacred! For a stupid bathhouse!" Aang angrily exclaimed.

          "Well, people around here are starting to stink," the man replied.

          "This whole place stinks!" Aang shouted. Using his staff Aang struck the ground and sent a gale of wind at the wrecking ball and its rig. They were blown off the building's foundation and fell into the crevices below.

          "Aang!" Celina scolded. Someone could have gotten hurt by his actions. She knew that he was upset that the Air Temple had been changed, and rightfully so, but that was no excuse for doing something so reckless.

          The young airbender ignored her however and still focused on the man in front of them. "This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way. I've seen it when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like," Aang almost growled at him.

          "The monks? But you're 12!" the man said confused.

          "Dad, he's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago," Teo explained.

          "What are you doing? Who said you could be here?" Aang asked angrily as he advanced towards Teo's father.

          "Hmmm… doing here… A long time ago, but not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood. My infant son, Teo, was badly hurt and lost his mother. I needed somewhere to rebuild and I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere pictures of flying people. But empty! Nobody home," he explained. Celina saw that he was trying to hold back tears when he mentioned the loss of his wife. "Then I came across these fan like contraptions!"

          "Our gliders," Aang clarified, seeing as Teo's dad pointed at people gliding outside.

          "Yes, little flying machines. They gave me an idea. Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone would be on equal ground, so to speak. We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here and after all, isn't that what nature does?" Teo's dad continued.

          "Nature knows where to stop," Aang bit back.

          "I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us," he responded. Celina was conflicted. She saw where Aang was coming from but she also saw where Teo's dad was coming from. They needed someplace to live and in order to do that some changes needed to be made. "Look at the time!"

          The gang looked over to where Teo's dad was looking and saw candles burning on top of a stone pedestal, each separated in neat sections.

          "Come, the pulley system must be oiled before dark," he said to a scribe behind him. They went to leave but a question from Sokka stopped him.

          "Wait, how can you tell the time from that thing? The notches all look the same," Sokka questioned.

          "The candle will tell us. Watch," Teo's dad instructed.

          The candle flame then snapped four times in a row. "You put spark powder in the candle," Celina observed.

          "Four flashes, so it's exactly four hours past midday, or, as I call it, four o'candle!" Teo's dad said. Sokka laughed at his joke and Teo's dad smiled seeing that he was so interested in what he invented. "If you like that, wait till you see my finger safe knife sharpener! Only took me three tries to get it right!" Teo's dad held up his hand to reveal that he had three wooden fingers on his left hand.

          Sokka followed after Teo's dad as he left with his scribes. Celina, Katara, and Teo looked over at Aang and saw how upset he was which gave Teo an idea. "Hey, Aang, I want to show you something," he said and began to lead them into the bowels of the Air Temple.

          "I just can't get over it. There's not a single thing that's the same," Aang said sullenly.

          "I don't know about that," Teo said and picked up a hermit crab. "The Temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendants of the ones that lived here a long time ago."

          "They're kind of keepers of the temple's origins," Katara commented. Teo handed Aang the hermit crab and he couldn't help but smile at it.

          "Besides, there's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all," Teo said and continued to lead them through the temple.

          When they finally came to a stop it was at the same intricate locked doors that were back at the Southern Air Temple. Celina couldn't help but shiver remembering all the harsh, judging gazes of the stone statues of Aang's past lives.

          "Hey! It's just like the one in the other Air Temple," Katara commented.

          "Only an airbender can open it… so the inside is completely untouched, just the way the monks left it. I've always wondered what it was like in there," Teo told them.

          "Aang?" Katara asked, wondering if he was going to open the doors for them.

          "I'm sorry, this is the last part of the temple that is how it was. I want it to stay that way," Aang answered.

          "Oh, thank the spirits," Celina muttered to herself.

          "I completely understand. I just wanted you to know it was here," Teo said.

          "Thanks," Aang replied. The four of them turned away and began to walk back to the top of the Temple.

* * *

          When they made it back upstairs Teo managed to get a few gliders for Celina and Katara and was explaining to them how to use them.

          "The wind will carry you. It supports something inside you… something even lighter than air, and that something takes over when you fly," Teo told the girls.

          "I've changed my mind. I think I was born without that something," Katara said scared, looking over the edge that she and Celina were standing on.

          "Impossible! Everyone has it," Teo laughed.

          "Spirit," Aang spoke up.

          "What?" Teo asked confused.

          "That's the something you're talking about," Aang explained.

          "Yeah, I suppose it is," Teo smiled.

          "Well if that's the case then I should be okay. Right, Spirit Buddy?" Celina said causing Aang to laugh. Celina and Katara got ready to take off with Teo and Aang behind them.

          "Are you ready?" Teo asked.

          "Yeah!" Celina replied.

          "No!" Katara answered. Katara jumped off anyway with Celina. She screamed on her way down but they soon turned to screams of delight once she gained control of the glider. Celina giggled beside her, feeling amazing soaring into the sky. She understood now why Aang likes to use his glider so much. Aang and Teo soon joined them.

          "I can't believe I'm flying!" Katara shouted to their friend.

          "Just make sure to keep your mouth closed so you don't swallow a bug!" Aang told them.

          "Will do," Celina replied before looking over and seeing Momo flying with them, trying to eat as many bugs as he could.

          "Teo was right about the air! All I had to do was trust it. Let it carry me," Katara said.

          "Even though Teo's not an airbender, he really does have the spirit of one," Aang realized. Celina could see an idea forming in his eyes as he landed on the terrace next to Teo. She joined them, curious as to what Aang was going to tell him. "I've been thinking. If you wanna see what's in that room, I'd be happy to open the door for you."

          "Great!" Teo exclaimed.

          "Great," Celina muttered to herself, thrilled to be going back into a room with statues that would stare daggers at her.

          "Wait! How do I land this thing?" Katara exclaimed as she still soaring through the sky. "Aang? Teo? Celina? What if I land… eh! Blech! Bug! Bug! That was a bug!" The three of them laughed hearing that Katara swallowed a bug.

          "Maybe I should help her down first," Aang said.

          "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Celina giggled.

* * *

          The four of them found themselves back at the Temple doors once again though this time they were going to be opened.

          "I can't believe I'm finally going to see what's inside," Teo said excited.

          Aang got into position and airbended two jets of air into the horns at the bottom of the door. The air ran through the intricate tubing, flipping the air symbols and unlocking the door in the process. Celina braced herself when the doors to the sanctuary opened but was surprised when she didn't feel the murderous gazes of Avatar statues. The four of them walked inside and gasped in horror when they discovered the room to be filled with war machines and torture devices.

          "Spirits," Celina cursed.

          "This is a nightmare," Aang said.

          "You don't understand." The four of them turned around to see Teo's dad entering the room.

          "You're making weapons for the Fire Nation!" Aang shouted angrily.

          Sokka came up from behind Teo's dad when he heard Aang. Upon seeing what was inside the room he became angry with him as well. "You make weapons for the Fire Nation!?"

          "Explain all this! Now!" Teo demanded.

          "It was about a year after we moved here. Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement. You were too young to remember this tale. They were going to destroy everything, burn it to the ground. I pleaded with them, I begged them to spare us. They asked what I had to offer. I offered… my services," Teo's dad explained, humiliated. "You must understand, I did this for you!"

          Teo's response to this was turning his head and wheeling himself out of the room and away from his father who in turn walked down the hall in shame.

          "We have to stop this," Celina said after a moment of silence. "We can't let him give the Fire Nation any more weapons. I mean look at these."

          "I'll go talk to Teo's dad and try to get him to stop. You guys stay down here and destroy these things," Aang told his friends. Celina, Sokka, and Katara nodded as Aang left the room.

          "Let's get to work," Sokka said.

* * *

          Celina, Sokka, and Katara made their way back up. They did their best destroying the weapons and torture devices in the room but had to stop with the war machines. They were only able to make a dent in those. Perhaps if Celina and Katara had more water they could do more damage but they didn't so the Water Tribe siblings decided to head back up the Air Temple. They met up with Aang and Teo on a causeway where the two boys told them about how Aang denied a Fire Nation Emissary the weapons so now the Fire Nation was heading to the Air Temple to burn it down.

          "This is bad! Very bad!" Sokka said.

          "Aang, what are we going to do? How can we possibly keep them all away?" Katara asked.

          "I'll tell ya how. We have something they don't. Air power! We control the sky. That's something the Fire Nation can't do. We can win!" Aang told them.

          "I want to help," Teo's dad told them as he walked up to the kids.

          "Good, we'll need it," Aang smiled. Everyone went into the Temple and gathered all the residents of the Air Temple in Teo's dad's office to explain what was going on. There the gang found out that most of the people in the Air Temple referred to Teo's dad as the Mechanist. Celina was happy to find this out; finally, she knew what to call him besides Teo's dad.

          "We finally got the war balloon working thanks to Sokka," the Mechanist explained. "This boy's a genius!"

          "Thank you. You're a genius!" Sokka said, pleased with the compliment. Celina could already see it going to her brother's head.

          "Thank you," the Mechanist replied.

          "See, the problem with the old war balloon was you could get it airborne, but once you did, it just kept going. You could put a hole in the top, but then all the hot air would escape. So the question became, how do you keep a lid on hot air?" Sokka began to explain.

          "Ugh, if only we knew," Katara commented, causing Aang and Teo to laugh.

          "A lid is actually the answer," Sokka continued.

          "That way you can control if you go up or down. Pretty smart thinking, bro," Celina complimented.

          "Thanks," Sokka said and went back to explaining things. "Okay, we've got four kinds of bombs. Smoke, slime, fire and…"

          "Stink. Never underestimate the power of stink!" the Mechanist finished.

* * *

          Everyone stood on the lower terrace of the temple, looking out over the edge for the Fire Nation. People were nervous about the approaching fight.

          "They're coming!" a little girl shouted out.

          "Are we ready?" Teo questioned.

          "Yes, but where's Sokka with the war balloon?" Katara asked worried.

          "Probably still trying to get it airborne with the Mechanist. It is the first time they're using the thing after all," Celina replied.

          "We'll have to start without him," Aang said.

          Aang, Teo, and the other residents with gliders flew off in formation towards the Fire Nation soldiers climbing up the mountain. They surprised the soldiers by dropping several bombs on them, sending some Fire Nation soldiers to fall into the crevices below. The girls stood on Appa's saddle as he flew around. Katara went to work handing bombs off to the gliders while Celina used the snow from the mountain to their advantage. She aided Aang in creating an avalanche that engulfed row after row of soldiers. The both of them shared a triumphant smile before getting back to the battle at hand.

          Suddenly spikes began to shoot up through the clouds and embed themselves into the rock of the Temple. Appa was flying hard trying to avoid the grappling hooks being thrown all over the place. Celina froze her and Katara's feet to the saddle so that they wouldn't get thrown off in the process. From up out of the clouds Fire Nation tanks emerged, using the grappling hooks to climb up the mountain wall. The gliders dropped bombs on them but they ended up doing nothing. When the tanks got up onto a small plateau they began to blast fire out at the gliders. Aang flew down to try to stop them but was having a difficult time trying to fight them off.

          "Those things are unstoppable!" Katara exclaimed.

          "I think I know how they work. I remember my Dad tinkering with the counterbalancing system. Something to do with water. Works great huh?" Teo told the Water Tribe girls.

          "Water?" Katara repeated, getting an idea.

          "Looks like a job for us," Celina smirked.

          Celina grabbed hold of a glider and flew her and Katara down towards where Aang was. The both of them got into stance and used the snow from the mountain to freeze the tanks in place before using the water inside them to break the wheels off, making sure that they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Celina, Katara, and Aang took out a couple tanks before a dozen more approached them. Appa landed between them and the tanks and roared, tossing aside several tanks. The three jumped into Appa's saddle and he flew them up to the Temple terrace next to Teo. Once there they surveyed the battlefield below them. There were several tanks down but more were approaching.

          "We're out of bombs!" Teo told them.

          "Sokka, where's that war balloon?" Celina muttered under her breath.

          As she spoke this, the war balloon rose up decked out with the Fire Nation symbol and four huge stacks of materials. Everyone smiled brightly seeing their appearance. They watched as Sokka and the Mechanist dropped the stacks of slime onto the tanks. The slime worked pretty well but the tanks still approached.

          "Oh no," Katara gasped.

          "Come on, Sokka. Use that big brain of yours and figure something out," Celina urged.

          Luckily for them, Sokka did think of something as they watched him and the Mechanist throw the heating system overboard and into a crevasse. There was a moment of silence followed by a series of explosions at the base of the Temple. Black smoke filled the area as everyone covered their face. Once it passed they noticed that the tanks were gone and that the Fire Nation troops were running back down the mountain. Celina, Katara, Aang, and the people of the Air Temple cheered in response. The cheering stopped however when they noticed that the war balloon was going down.

          "No! Sokka!" Katara shouted.

          Aang sprang into action by unfolding his glider and flying towards the war balloon. Sokka used his boomerang as a grappling hook and hooked it onto Aang's foot as he flew by. Sokka and the Mechanist held on as Aang flew them back to the Temple's terrace. Celina and Katara tackled Sokka in a hug, happy to see that he was alright.

          "Nice work there, bro," Celina complimented.

          "Thanks," Sokka blushed a bit.

          When the hugs were done Aang turned to the Mechanist, Teo, and the other residents of the Air Temple. "You know what? I'm really glad you guys all live here now. It's like the hermit crab," Aang told them and picked up a hermit crab crawling on a stone. "Maybe you weren't born here, but you found this empty shell and made it your home. And now you protect each other."

          "That means a lot coming from you," Teo smiled.

          "Aang, you were right about air power. As long as we've got the skies we'll have the Fire Nation on the run!" Sokka shouted, causing everyone to cheer.


	17. The Waterbending Master

          They'd been flying for days, the longest they'd flown without taking a break and everyone was feeling the toll. Celina at first tried to pass time by sleeping but her nightmares were becoming more aggressive. The slashing of her skin, his voice sending shivers down her spine, her screams to no one. It instantly killed her desire to sleep. So instead she played with the water as they passed by, smiling when she saw koala otters coming up to sneak a peek at Appa.

          "I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka complained. Appa flew a bit lower in response, brushing his feet against the icy ocean water.

          "I have an idea, why don't we all get on your back and you can fly us to the North Pole," Aang snapped at him.

          "I'd love to! Climb on everyone, Sokka's ready for takeoff!" Sokka replied, wiggling his butt at them. Celina giggled when Momo jumped up onto Sokka's back.

          "Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight," Katara tried to calm Sokka and Aang down.

          "I can take over driving if you want to take a break, Aang," Celina offered.

          "I don't see the point. We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here," Sokka exclaimed annoyed.

          Suddenly ice shot up towards Appa. The bison avoided the ice as best as he could but one slammed into his side, sending Appa into the water. The water around Appa froze, trapping him in place. Men in ornate wooden skiffs stood next to them, controlling the ice.

          "They're waterbenders! We found the Water Tribe!" Katara smiled brightly.

          "And you said that there was nothing up here," Celina smirked at Sokka. He glared at her in response. After a bit of an explanation, the waterbenders released Appa from the ice and lead them to a tall ice wall with towers and turrets.

          "The Northern Water Tribe…" Katara said in wonder.

          "We're finally here," Sokka smiled. Celina hugged her siblings close. They finally made it after all their journeying. Waterbenders on the wall opened up part of the wall, allowing the gang entrance into the city. Appa swam through, too tired to fly.

          "I can't believe how many waterbenders live up here!" Katara gushed.

          "We'll find a master to teach us, no problem!" Aang replied.

          The gang looked around in wonder as Appa swam through the city's canals. Everything looked to be made out of ice and was breathtaking. Celina could see some sort of citadel or temple towards the back of the city, towering over the buildings. People walking stopped and watched Appa. Soon everyone was coming out of buildings to gawk at Appa and the people riding him. Aang waved to them as they passed by. Fountains and waterfall were everywhere.

          "This is nothing like home," Celina thought to herself. As they passed by a boat Celina noticed her brother's attention fall on the white-haired girl in the boat. He even ran down Appa's tail so that he could get a longer look at her. He was smitten.

          "This place is beautiful," Katara commented.

          "Yeah, she is," Sokka replied, looking at the girl dreamily. Celina would have to tease him about that later.

* * *

          A celebration was set up in a plaza near the citadel when the Northern Water Tribe learned of not only their sister Tribe's arrival but the Avatar's as well. Water Tribe men played huge kettles of drums as citizens looked up at the main table where the gang sat with the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe. Several attendants brought them large plates of food much to Sokka's delight. Over to the side, attendants brought Appa some food as well and ran away screaming when he roared before digging in.

          Chief Arnook stood to address the crowd. "Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sisters from the Southern Water Tribe, and they have brought with them someone very special. Someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now. The Avatar! We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday. Princess Yue is now of marrying age," he spoke. The girl with the white hair from before walked up to the table and smiled.

          Sokka stared at Yue while Celina shuddered, being reminded that sixteen was the marrying age. If the Northern Water Tribe citizens learned that she wasn't betrothed or married and that she'd be turning seventeen in the spring they'd start forcing suitors onto her. And seeing how she was the daughter of the Southern Cheif they just might try to set up an arranged marriage. Another shudder. She'd have to keep her age a secret for now.

          "Thank you, father. May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times," Yue spoke like a true princess.

          "Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!" Chief Arnook announced, motioning to three men standing on a dais in front of the fountain.

          It was clear the older man in the center was Master Pakku. He and his two students began to waterbend water from three enormous jars in front of them. The crowd began to cheer and Katara and Aang watched them in delight. From the corner of her eye, Celina saw Princess Yue sit down next to Sokka who straightened his posture in response. This was going to be interesting.

          "Hi, there. Sokka, Southern Water Tribe," he said introducing himself to Yue.

          "Very nice to meet you," Yue smiled.

          "So… uh… you're a Princess! You know, back in my tribe, I'm kinda like a Prince myself," Sokka said to her.

          "Ha! Prince of what?" Katara laughed, having heard him.

          "A lot of things!" Sokka replied angrily.

          "Actually, we are the Chief's children so technically we would be royalty in a sense," Celina said coming to her brother's defense. She turned and whispered to Sokka next. "I got you, bro."

          Sokka smiled at her before turning back to Yue. "So it looks like I'm gonna be in town for a while. I'm thinking maybe we could… do an activity together?" Sokka said to her.

          "Do an 'activity'?" Yue giggled slightly.

          "Very smooth," Katara sassed Sokka. Celina put a comforting hand on Sokka's shoulder as he sulked over his awkward courting abilities.

* * *

          The next day Celina walked with Katara and Aang towards the citadel where Master Pakku would teach his class. She couldn't help but smile at Katara who was bouncing with excitement.

          "I've waited for this day my whole life! I finally get to learn from a real waterbending master!" Katara said excited. They came upon the fountain outside the citadel to see Master Pakku manipulating a blob of water.

          "Good morning, Master Pakku!" Aang exclaimed, causing Pakku to drop the blob.

          "No, please, march right in. I'm not concentrating or anything," Pakku grimaced.

          "Uhh… these are my friends, Celina and Katara, the ones I told you about," Aang said, introducing the girls. Katara bowed while Celina gave him a smile and a small wave.

          "It's nice to meet you," she said.

          "I'm sorry. I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friends were girls. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending," Pakku told them as he made a chair for himself to sit down in.

          Celina and Katara glared at him. "What do you mean you won't teach us?" Celina questioned.

          "We didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell us no," Katara snapped.

          "No," Pakku replied monotone.

          "But there must be other female waterbenders in your tribe!" Katara protested.

          "Here the women learn from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal. I'm sure she would be happy to take you two as her students despite your bad attitude," Pakku told them.

          "I don't want to heal, I want to fight!" Katara shouted.

          "I can see that. But our tribe has customs, rules," Pakku said.

          "Well your rules are archaic," Celina glared.

          "Yeah! That's not fair," Aang said, agreeing with the girls. "If you won't teach them then…"

          "Then what?" Pakku challenged.

          "Then I won't learn from you!" Aang replied and began to walk away.

          "Wait! Aang didn't mean that," Katara said and then she and Celina ran after Aang. "You can't risk your training for us. You have to learn from Master Pakku. Even if he is a big jerk."

          "But what about you two?" Aang asked.

          "I'll continue teaching Katara everything I know and we'll go learn healing from Yugoda. Healing is still new to the both of us and is something that can come in handy for the future," Celina answered. "You focus on your training."

          Aang nodded his head, feeling guilty that he got to learn from a master while his friends couldn't, and walked back over to Pakku who had a smug look on his face. Both Celina and Katara couldn't help but glare at the old man before heading to find the healing hut.

* * *

          Katara ranted angrily at Celina as they walked to the hut. The older girl let her. Katara was always more aggressive with her anger and if ranting would help her calm down then she'd let her continue. Celina herself was angry as well but chose to stew on it silently, hoping a couple deep breaths would help her calm down.

          "I just can't believe…"

          "Katara, we're here," Celina told her sister as they approached the healing hut. Katara stopped her ranting.

          "You think this is for the best?" Katara asked, calmer.

          "I think so. Who knows what could happen with this war. Healing could really help save some lives," Celina answered.

          "Fighting against bad guys could too," Katara muttered.

          "We'll get to that later," Celina assured her sister. "Right now let's tackle this." Katara sighed but nodded. The two walked into the healing hut and looked around. There was a man-sized dummy laying on a stone bed, pathways and channels etched into its surface. A woman, who Celina presumed to be Yugoda, bended shining water through the channels.

          "Um, hi. Are you Yugoda?" Celina asked.

          "Are you here for the healing lesson?" she asked back. Celina and Katara looked around once more. Her students were young, way younger than Katara was.

          "I guess we are," Katara answered glumly.

          "Welcome! Welcome!" Yugoda smiled.

          The two sat down and listened to Yugoda's lesson. She showed them the pathways in the body and how to heal certain injuries and ailments. After a few hours the lesson ended and the little girls took the dummy out on a stretcher. Celina and Katara walked up to Yugoda.

          "Thanks for the lesson," Katara thanked her.

          "So, who's the lucky boy?" Yugoda asked.

          Celina and Katara exchanged a confused look. "Huh?"

          "Your betrothal necklace. You're getting married right?" Yugoda explained.

          "No, I don't think I'm ready for that yet," Katara smiled. "Our grandmother gave my mother this necklace. She passed it down to Celina…"

          "But then I gave it to Katara," Celina finished the story. "Looks better on her anyway."

          "I recognize this carving! I don't know why I didn't realize it sooner! You're the spitting image of Kana!" Yugoda exclaimed after looking closely at the necklace.

          "Wait, how do you know our Gran Gran's name?" Katara asked shocked.

          "When I was your age I was friends with Kana. She was born here, in the Northern Tribe," Yugoda explained.

          "She never told us," Celina said.

          "Your grandmother had an arranged marriage with a young waterbender. He carved that necklace for her," she told them.

          "If Gran Gran was engaged, why did she leave?" Katara asked.

          "I don't know. That's always been a mystery to me. She left without saying goodbye," Yugoda answered.

          Celina had a feeling of why their Gran Gran left but she wasn't about to say that in front of her grandmother's old friend. "Well, thank you again for the lesson," she said and led Katara out of the healing hut and towards where they were staying.

* * *

          Annoyance seemed to be the feeling of choice as the gang met up again in the small house they'd been given. With tension filling the room Celina tried to make conversation to calm it down.

          "How's warrior training going?" she asked Sokka. He kicked a bag on the floor out of anger before falling on to his sleeping bag.

          "That bad?" Aang asked.

          "No, it's Princess Yue. I don't get it. One minute she wants to go out with me and the next she's telling me to get lost!" Sokka complained. "So how's waterbending training?"

          Katara flopped onto Celina's lap, depressed. "Master Poophead won't teach them because they're girls," Aang explained.

          "We don't need Pakku," Celina tried to tell Katara.

          "Why don't you just teach them, Aang?" Sokka suggested.

          "Why didn't I think of that?" Katara said, brightening instantly. "At night you can teach whatever moves you learned from Master Pakku. That way you have someone to practice with and we get to learn waterbending. Everyone's happy!"

          "I'm not happy," Sokka commented.

          "But you're never happy. Come on guys," Katara said and grabbed Celina and Aang's hand.

          She proceeded to drag them out of the house and towards a canal. Katara let go of their hands and waited for Aang to show them what he learned. Aang raised a whip of water out of the canal, moving it around himself.

          "Master Pakku said this move is all about sinking and floating," Aang told them.

          "Huh," Celina said a bit unimpressed.

          "Is something wrong?" Aang asked confused.

          "No, it's just… I've known that move for years. I was going to teach you and Katara how to do that next," Celina explained. She raised some water out of the canal and performed the move herself, moving the water around her quickly and elegantly.

          "Wow," Katara smiled. "Let me try!" Celina handed off her water to Katara who quickly got the move down better than Aang had. She held the water between her hands with a triumphant smile. "I got it!"

          Suddenly the water began to whip around her very fast before shooting up above them. Aang was seriously impressed while Celina was confused. Katara couldn't have done that.

          "That was amazing! You did it exactly like Celina did. You two really are the ultimate waterbending sisters," Aang gushed.

          "That wasn't me," Katara told them, confirming Celina's suspicions.

          The trio looked up to see Pakku standing on the bridge above them, the water that Katara was using floating in his hands. He froze the orb and shattered it, causing pieces of ice to embed themselves into the bridge.

          "I… I…" Aang tried to explain.

          "I was teaching Katara some waterbending when Aang noticed that it was the same move that he learned today. Looks like Katara's at the same level he's at in his training," Celina said, coming up with an excuse.

          But Pakku wasn't buying it. "You have disrespected me, my teachings, and my entire culture. You are no longer welcome as my student," Pakku told Aang before walking away, leaving Katara and Aang astonished while Celina just fumed.

* * *

          Celina, Sokka, Katara, and Aang stood in front of the tribe's council in the citadel, trying to get Pakku to take Aang back as his student. Although at this point Celina didn't know if he needed Pakku with all the things that she could teach him. After seeing the move that he learned the other day Celina realized she was way more advanced in waterbending than she originally thought.

          "What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" Chief Arnook asked almost sarcastically.

          "Yes! Please," Katara demanded nicely.

          "He's refusing to teach the Avatar – you know, the one who is going to stop the war – waterbending just because my sister also wants to learn. It's a pretty stupid move in my book," Celina said.

          "You don't want to learn from him anymore?" Katara asked her sister surprised.

          "I've done fine on my own for the past couple years," Celina told her sister before muttering under her breath. "I doubt he could teach me anything I don't already know."

          "Respect your elders, young lady," Pakku advised Celina.

          "Then give me something to respect," Celina shot back. "But this isn't about me, this is about Aang."

          "I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him," Chief Arnook told the girls.

          "It's not us who needs to swallow their pride," Celina snapped.

          "There is no way I am apologizing to a sour old man like you!" Katara shouted, causing the massive water pots on both sides of the council table to crack. Her anger was getting released and Celina didn't mind. "I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me!"

          Yue gasped and the men stiffened at Katara's challenge as she walked out of the building. "I'm sure she didn't mean that," Aang tried to assure the council.

          "Yes, she did," Celina told them and followed after her sister.

          If Katara was going to do this than she needed to give her sister some advice. Katara wouldn't win the fight, Pakku wasn't a Master for nothing, but that didn't mean she couldn't give him a run for his money, thinking girls couldn't fight at all. So Celina talked strategy which Katara greatly accepted. When they started heading down the steps of the citadel Sokka and Aang caught up to them.

          "Are you crazy, Katara? You're not gonna win this fight!" Sokka said to her sister.

          "I know! I don't care!" Katara replied, taking off her coat and throwing it at Sokka.

          "You don't have to do this for me. I can find another teacher. Celina can teach me," Aang told her.

          "I'm not doing it for you! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!" Katara exclaimed.

          "Just remember to keep your balance and make sure your movements are fluid," Celina told her. "Don't forget, you can freeze your feet to the ground if you need to re-stabilize."

          When they made it to the bottom of the stairs the gang looked up to see that Pakku finally exited the building and was making his way down. "So, you decided to show up?" she smirked at him but became confused when Pakku walked past her. "Aren't you gonna fight?"

          "Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong," he replied, not even turning to face her. Incredibly angry Katara drew a water whip from the ground and whipped the back of Pakku's head. He stopped and turned to Katara.

          "Fine. You want to learn to fight so bad, study closely!" Pakku said and quickly grabbed water from two pools and bended it around himself.

          Katara ran at him but was flung back when she hit the water. She stood back up and Pakku bended a wall of water around the both of them. The water spun faster and faster creating a whirlpool effect. Katara was having a bit of a difficult time as the water started pushing her inward.

          "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you!" Pakku said mockingly.

          The whirlpool constricted but Katara swung her arm, deflecting the water off in a different direction which just so happened to be Sokka's direction, knocking him back. A crowd of spectators had arrived to watch the fight. Katara ran at Pakku with a water whip to have him respond by creating a ramp out of ice. She was sent flying in the air and back flipped, landing on a guardrail of the citadel steps. Pakku turned the ramp back into water and sent it towards Katara.

          "Katara, your feet!" Celina shouted at her sister. Remembering Celina's advice, Katara froze her feet to the guardrail to keep her balance and then broke the oncoming wave, bending it around her.

          "You can't knock me down!" Katara told Pakku. The crowd behind her cheered.

          "Go Katara!" Aang cheered his friend on.

          Katara ran at Pakku once again, bending away his shield of ice and engaging in hand to hand which Pakku easily dodged. He used a burst of water to send her flying into one of the nearby pools. Pakku thought he won but Katara emerged from the water, creating a thick pillar of ice. She sent blade after blade of ice at Pakku, the last one barely missing him. Katara got out of the pool of water and continued on, sending a steam of water around her before throwing it at Pakku. He caught it and used the water to wash Katara backward, sending her on all fours.

          Sokka and Aang were worried and looked over at Celina who'd been closely studying the fight. "How's she doing?" Sokka asked.

          "She isn't gonna last much longer. Katara probably has a few bursts in her but it's clear she's become more reckless with her attacks," Celina told her friends.

          Katara got up from the ground, her hair disheveled and breathing heavily, and got into stance. Throwing her hands up she caused the segmented pillars of ice behind Pakku to collapse down. Pakku turned them into snow before they could fall on top of him.

          "Well, I'm impressed. You are an excellent waterbender. Your sister must know her stuff," Pakku admitted.

          "But you still won't teach me will you?" Katara asked, already knowing his answer.

          "No."

          Katara raised the water near her feet and froze it, sending it in a rolling wave of ice towards Pakku. He raised himself on top of a pillar to avoid her attack and turned it into a wave of snow which he rode towards Katara. Katara sent a bit of water at him but Pakku dodged, knocking her down in the process. Celina noticed that Katara's necklace was sent flying off as her hair became completely undone. Before Katara had time to react Pakku trapped her in a prison of icy shards. The people were surprised to see that Katara had lost as she struggled to get out of the ice, her arms and hands trapped. Celina was quick to go over to Katara and free her from the ice by turning it back into water and returning it to the pool.

          "This fight is over," Pakku declared and walked away from her.

          "Come back here! I'm not finished yet!" Katara exclaimed. She went to pounce at Pakku but Celina held her back.

          "No, Katara, you lost. Be honorable and respect that," Celina told her sister.

          "Then you fight him! I know you can take him, Celina," Katara urged her sister.

          "Enough," Celina said. Sure Celina was interested in fighting Pakku after seeing how her sister fared against him but that was for another day.

          Pakku stopped walking away when he noticed Katara's necklace on the ground and picked it up. "This is my necklace!" he said in surprise after looking at it.

          "No it's not it's mine! Give it back!" Katara demanded.

          "I made this sixty years ago for the love of my life. Kana," Pakku said.

          "Our Gran Gran was supposed to marry you?" Katara asked in shock.

          "I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long and happy life together. I loved her," Pakku explained.

          "But she didn't love you, did she?" Celina asked. "Yugoda told us that it was an arranged marriage and those aren't always happy. Gran Gran wouldn't let your tribe's sexist customs ruin her life. So she left."

          "It must have taken a lot of courage," Katara commented. People were surprised when Yue burst into tears and ran away. Celina motioned for Sokka to go after the girl which he promptly did. She'd ask him about things later.

* * *

          The next day Celina accompanied Katara to her lesson with Master Pakku. After talking with them about Gran Gran he agreed that he'd teach Katara along with Aang. Sokka urged Celina to go with her as he wanted to stick around the room and sulk. He told her everything about him and Yue and Celina couldn't help but feel bad for her brother. Katara ran as fast as she could to the lesson which Celina chuckled at.

          "What do you think you're doing? It's past sunrise. You're late," Pakku scolded Katara before smiling at her.

          "Good to see you here," Aang told Katara.

          "You too," Katara smiled at Aang.

          "Now, before we get further into the lesson I'd like to show you all what a fight between two waterbending teachers looks like," Pakku told his class and then turned to Celina. "Celina, would you care to join me in showing them."

          "What?" Celina asked confused.

          "You taught Aang and Katara before they became my students. And from what I saw with my fight with Katara I'm impressed with what you taught her. I'm interested to see how far along you are. So what do you say to a little sparring session?" Pakku asked.

          Celina looked over at Katara and Aang who nodded vigorously. "I… I guess," Celina accepted.

          The two bowed at each other and Celina waited for Pakku to make the first move, preparing a defensive stance. Pakku grabbed two water whips from the ground and shot them at Celina's legs, hoping to disrupt her stance and throw her off balance. She responded by twisting the water around her legs into a vortex in order to lift her up. Having a height advantage over Pakku, Celina used half of the water holding her up and slashed it at Pakku who rolled to dodge her attack.

          Celina used her remaining water to cushion her landing. Pakku grabbed water from nearby pools and sent a large wave at her. Taking a deep breath Celina blew out her frosty air, freezing the wave before it reached her, creating a barrier between her and Pakku. She purposely left the ice cloudy so that Pakku wouldn't know what she'd do next. It gave a disadvantage to the both of them but Celina had the upper hand since she created it.

          Pakku tackled the wall of ice by bursting through the middle of it to try and get at Celina. Taking the two remaining sides of the wall Celina turned them into water and began to twist them around Pakku into a sphere. She tightened the water of the sphere as much as she could, treating Pakku like she would a fish she'd catch for the tribe. Once Pakku was trapped tight enough in the sphere of water Celina froze it. Pakku's student's cheered, seeing that she defeated their master. Katara and Aang ran up to a slightly panting Celina and hugged her.

          "I knew you could do it!" Aang told her.

          "You gotta teach me that move," Katara begged.

          "How about I release Master Pakku first," Celina laughed and then turned the sphere of ice back into water, freeing Pakku. She returned the water back to the pools. Pakku smiled at Celina once he was freed.

          "It appears that your sister and friend didn't give you enough credit. I didn't know I would be facing against another master waterbender," Pakku said and bowed to Celina out of respect. Celina's eyes widened and Katara and Aang looked at her with gaping mouths hearing that she was master level. Pakku's students bowed to her in response. "Class, I expect you to address Celina as Master Celina from now on."

          "Yes, Master Pakku," his students replied, minus Katara and Aang.

          "Would you care to join me in teaching? Perhaps with two masters, these students can advance quicker," Pakku offered.

          "I… uh… Thank you for the offer Master Pakku but I think I have to pass it up," Celina answered. "I want to learn all aspects of my waterbending and I still have some things to learn from Yugoda. But I'll be happy to stop by if you need someone to help demonstrate some things."

          Pakku smiled at her and bowed once again. "Spoken like a true master of their craft. Very well, I respect your decision. I wish you luck in your studies," he said.

          Celina bowed as well. "Thank you," she said and then turned to Katara and Aang who were looking at her in wonder. "Enjoy your lesson guys." She walked away with a smile on her face, heading towards the healing huts for her lesson.


	18. The Siege of the North

          A couple weeks had passed and the gang was doing well at the North Pole. Celina finished her training with Yugoda, mastering healing within three weeks. Sokka was still going through warrior training and hanging out with Princess Yue, which was still complicated. Celina tried to convince Yue to take a chance with Sokka and forget about her fiancé, that her father would understand if she was truly in love, but Yue said she couldn't and that it was her duty to her people to go through with her arranged marriage. It was ridiculous but Celina didn't say anything afterward, just hoping that Sokka and Yue enjoyed their time together. Katara quickly rose up in her training with Master Pakku, exceeded past his top-tier students.

          Celina was currently watching Katara as she sparred with another student. With her training done she was able to help Master Pakku which he greatly appreciated. Of course, she had to keep her cheering to a minimum when it came to her sister, she couldn't show favoritism until they got back to the house. The boy Katara was sparing against, Sangok, looked nervous as he took up a stance against her. Katara herself looked completely calm and collected. Sangok raised a ball of water, which he turned to ice, and sent it at Katara. She fluidly liquefied it and sent a huge stream of water at Sangok. It washed him up into the air before Katara froze that water, trapping him in ice.

          "Nice try, Pupil Sangok. A couple more years and you might be ready to fight a sea sponge," Pakku commented as him and Celina walked up to Katara.

          "That ice ball you threw was pretty weak and it's no surprise as to why. You need to be swifter in your movements and make sure your nerves don't get the best of you when up against someone. They'll affect your bending capabilities and allow for your opponent to have the upper hand," Celina explained as she unfroze the ice Sangok was trapped in. He dropped to the ground and rubbed his sore rear.

          "Yes, Master Celina," Sangok replied.

          "Would anyone care for a rematch with Katara?" Pakku asked his students who were sitting slumped against the ground. The boys groaned in response. Celina had to restrain a giggle remembering how Katara wiped the floor with all of them. "Katara, you have advanced more quickly than any student I have ever trained. You have proven that with fierce determination, passion, and hard work you can accomplish anything. Raw talent alone is not enough." Pakku, Celina, and Katara looked over to see Aang lounging around, floating Momo around on an air ball. "Pupil Aang!"

          "Yes, Master Pakku?" Aang replied, quickly dissipating the air ball which caused Momo to land on Aang's head.

          "Care to step into the sparring circle? I figure since you've found time to play with house pets you must have already mastered waterbending," Pakku said.

          "I wouldn't say 'mastered', but check this out!" Aang told him as he got up. Aang spun around, collecting snow around him as he went until he made himself a snowman. Pakku, Celina, and Katara looked at him unimpressed as Momo jumped on Aang, knocking him down. Pakku shook his head in disgust.

          "Must I end lessons early?" Pakku said to himself.

          "Actually, I have an idea," Celina told Pakku before turning to Katara. "So you've sparred against one Master already. How does sparring against another Master sound?"

          "You mean it?" Katara asked excited. She'd been begging Celina to spar with her ever since Celina completed her healing training.

          "Yeah, I mean you took out all of the students so it would make sense to see how you fair against a master," Celina explained. The defeated students perked up, hearing that there was going to be a sparring match between Master Celina and Katara. A fight between the sisters would be interesting to watch. "Wouldn't you say so Master Pakku?"

          "Hmm, I suppose. Katara has advanced tremendously," Pakku somewhat agreed.

          "Woohoo! Uh, I mean. It would be an honor to spar with you, Master Celina," Katara said and then bowed at her sister out of respect. Celina found it strange when Katara referred to her as Master Celina but understood why. She had to show her the same respect that the other students did, well… at least during lessons.

          Celina chuckled at Katara's excitement. "Just so you know I won't be going easy on you," she told Katara as she got into position.

          "Neither will I," Katara replied and threw a quick water whip at Celina.

          The older girl used the water whip's momentum to turn it into an ice dagger and fling it back at Katara. Katara split the dagger in to and sent the pieces into the ground on either side of her. Grabbing water from the pools near them Katara sent two large bursts of water at Celina. Seeing them coming at her Celina twirled around, grabbing both bursts and turned them into a ramp which she rode up. Once at the top Celina used the ramp to flip over Katara, landing behind her sister. With Katara trying to catch up with her movement Celina was about to loosen the ground underneath her sister so that she'd sink into the ground but stopped when she noticed a falling black snowflake. The icy ramp she created before turned back into water, crashing to the ground, when Celina realized what she was looking at.

          "Katara, look," Celina pointed out worried, stopping the sparring session and bringing the black snow to her sister's attention. Katara's eyes widened upon seeing more fall down upon the white landscape.

          "Oh no," Katara muttered.

          Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around them, confused about what was happening. From the Northern people's reactions Celina could only assume that they hadn't dealt with the Fire Nation attacking in decades. She watched as the soot caused the water to turn black. Celina, Katara, and Aang shared a look before looking up at the sky.

          "What's going on?" one of the students asked

          "The Fire Nation is coming. The black snow is a result of soot. We've seen it before when they invaded our village. From the amount, it looks like there's a lot of them coming," Celina explained.

          "We must inform Chief Arnook. Everyone into the citadel," Pakku told his students.

          Everyone around rushed into the citadel and Pakku and Celina were quick to explain what was going on. Men went and banged drums announcing a tribal meeting. Pakku went and took up his spot in the council section with Chief Arnook while Celina went back and sat with Katara and Aang nearby a wall. People continued to enter the citadel. Celina noticed when Yue ran in and took her place next to her father. Sokka trudged in a bit later, joining his sisters and Aang. He looked tense and Celina could tell that something happened between him and Yue. Everyone hushed when Chief Arnook began to speak.

          "The day we have feared for so long has arrived. The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe. But they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence I call upon the great spirits! Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us! I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission," Arnook said.

          "Count me in," Sokka stood up.

          "Sokka!" Katara exclaimed. Celina, Katara, and Aang were shocked as Sokka went forward to receive Chief Arnook's mark. Yue teared up once Sokka got his mark and left to go prepare for the upcoming mission. She really cared about him.

          After the tribal meeting Celina, Katara, and Aang stood outside on the citadel steps with Chief Arnook. There was a tense stillness in the air as the Northern Water Tribe waited for the Fire Nation to make their appearance.

          "The stillness before battle is unbearable. Such a quiet dread," Chief Arnook observed.

          "I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I'm gonna make a difference this time," Aang told them. Celina and Katara put a comforting hand on Aang's shoulders, letting him know that they were there to help.

* * *

          Celina, Sokka, and Katara stood next to Aang and Appa on the wall overlooking the ocean. Water Tribe warriors lined the top of the wall, face painted, as everyone waited. In the distance, a single ship appeared on the horizon. From the ship, a fireball was launched, hurtling directly towards the center of the wall, blowing a massive hole in the water symbol. Several people were thrown back from the blast, including the Southern Water Tribe siblings. Celina bended the snow around her in order to cushion the landing, essentially putting herself into a snow bubble. Once she landed Celina boosted herself out from her snow bubble and looked around for her siblings.

          "Katara!? Celina!?" Sokka called out.

          "Right here, Sokka," Celina shouted to her brother. Katara quickly made her appearance, bending a mound of snow off her. Celina and Sokka helped her back on to her feet just as two more fireballs came over the city wall. Appa roared as him and Aang took off towards the Fire Nation ship. "You head over to the other warriors for your mission. Katara and I will handle the fireballs." Sokka nodded and ran off.

          "Stop those fireballs!" Pakku shouted to the waterbenders.

          "So how are we going to do this?" Katara asked Celina.

          "I'm sure a big enough water wall will do the trick, or at least put out the fire," Celina explained. "Think we can do it?"

          Katara smiled. "You bet. After all, we are the ultimate waterbending sisters," she answered.

          Nodded the girls took up their waterbending stance and reached for the water below them. Concentrating the two lifted a large wall of water that extinguished a fireball that was thrown. The water wall didn't stretch that wide but it got the attention of the other waterbenders who copies Celina and Katara's actions. Soon there was a large water wall trying to stop the fireballs. They continued on with this until Pakku dismissed Celina and Katara so that another round of waterbenders could take over. He didn't want everyone getting tired.

          The girls headed off to the citadel to rest up, taking in the smoking sections of the city that had been bombed. Once at the citadel the girls met up with Princess Yue to go over what had happened. That was when twilight arrived and the fireballs stopped.

          "They've stopped firing," Yue observed.

          "Probably because the moon is rising, and a full one at that. They'd know better than to attack when we're at our most powerful," Celina replied.

          It was then Aang swooped down with Appa, landing at the base of the citadel. The girls ran down to talk to them as Appa flopped down on his belly, too tired from the day. Aang slid own from the saddle looking dejected.

          "I can't do it. I can't do it," Aang said to himself.

          "What happened?" Katara asked.

          "I must have taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them. I can't fight them all," Aang explained tired.

          "But, you have to! You're the Avatar!" Yue insisted.

          "I'm just one kid," Aang broke, burying his head in his arms.

          "Come on, let's get you inside the citadel," Celina urged, helping Aang up onto his feet. The girls lead him into the citadel where they could take a breath from everything. Aang stuck to himself while the girls gather together to look at the full moon.

          "The legends say the moon was the first waterbender," Yue explained to them. "Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves."

          "That's how I learned back home. I was able to figure out my waterbending more so during night in the beginning. There was such a wonderful energy when the moon came out and mixed with the ocean. It was comforting," Celina told them.

          "Our strength comes from the Spirit of the Moon, our life comes from the Spirit of the Ocean. They work together to keep balance," Yue continued.

          "The Spirits! Maybe I can find them and get their help!" Aang exclaimed getting an idea.

          "How can you do that?" Yue asked.

          "The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World," Katara explained. "Aang or Celina can talk to them. My sister's able to see and talk to spirits."

          "Maybe they'll give us the wisdom to win this battle!" Yue smiled hopeful.

          "Or, maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" Aang said hyped up. The look he got from the girls told him that was a silly thing to want. "Or wisdom. That's good too."

          "The only problem is, last time you got to the Spirit World by accident. How are you going to get there this time?" Katara asked.

          "I have an idea, follow me," Yue said.

          Celina, Katara, and Aang followed after Yue as she led them through the citadel. They walked through a courtyard behind the citadel and came upon a wooden door. "So is this the way to the Spirit World?" Aang asked.

          "No," Yue laughed. "You'll have to get there on your own. But I can take you to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole."

          Yue opened the door and the four of them walked inside. Celina, Katara, and Aang's eyes widened when they saw what was beyond the door. At the back of the chamber, there was a waterfall that split around an island of land covered in grass. A small pond sat in the middle in front of a gate. The island was connected to where they stood by two wooden bridges. Aang ran over one of the bridges in excitement, laughing as he landed on the soft grass of the island.

          "I never thought I'd miss grass this much," Aang laughed. The girls walked over the bridges and to the island.

          "It's so warm in here! How is that possible?" Katara asked as she and Celina pulled off their overcoats, tossing them aside.

          "It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land," Yue explained.

          "I can feel it. There such a strong, tranquil hum of energy here. It feels really familiar," Celina told them.

          "You're right. I can feel… something… it's so… tranquil," Aang agreed and sat down cross-legged in front of the pond. He closed his eyes and tried to mediate his way into the spirit world. Katara and Yue stood behind Aang and waited while Celina stood on the side of the pond, hoping that the spirits would come and talk to her.

          "Why is he sitting like that?" Yue whispered to Katara.

          "He's meditating, trying to cross over into the Spirit World. It takes all his concentration," Katara whispered back.

          "Is there any way we can help?" Yue whisper asked.

          "How 'bout some quiet!? C'mon guys! I can hear every word you're saying!" Aang complained. "Uh, how are you doing, Celina? Gotten anything?"

          "Not yet. It feels like spirits might be here but they're not coming out," Celina told him.

          Aang nodded and the two of them looked down at the pool, watching the two koi fish that circled one another. They both stared that the fish intently, noticing that the fish closely resemble a yin-yang before finding them blur into one. Aang's eyes and arrow glowed white while Celina passed out, falling into the pond with the fish. The koi fish continued to swim around Celina's body as her braid became undone, her hair spreading out like a halo.

          "Celina! Aang! Are they okay?" Yue asked concerned.

          "It looks like both of them crossed over into the Spirit World. They'll be fine as long as we don't move their bodies. That's their way back to the physical world," Katara explained.

          "But shouldn't we get Celina out of the water?" Yue questioned.

          "I don't wanna risk moving her and Celina not being able to find her way back. I don't like that she's floating there but I don't wanna take any chances," Katara admitted. "As long as I'm here to protect them everything should be fine."

          "Well, aren't you a big girl now?" Zuko's voice echoed slightly through the chamber.

          Katara looked over to see that he was walking over the footbridge towards them. "No!" Katara exclaimed.

          "Yes! Hand him over and I won't have to hurt you," Zuko demanded.

          Katara got into waterbending stance while Yue ran off to go get help. Celina and Aang remained in their spirit trances. Zuko launched forward, firing several blasts of fire at Katara. She blocked all of them using water from the pond. He continued to fire blasts at her but Katara used the water to hurl him backward, causing him to fall flat on the ground.

          "I see you've learned a new trick. But I didn't come this far to lose to you," Zuko said as he got up.

          Zuko fired another blast which Katara blocked. She launched another stream of water at him which hurled him back again. Just as Zuko regained his balance Katara froze his feet to the ground and proceeded to bend a sphere around Zuko just like Celina taught her. Once he was fully encased Katara froze the water, trapping him in the ice. Katara was extremely satisfied with this.

          "You little peasant. You've found a master, haven't you?" Zuko growled.

          "I found two. Turns out I've been traveling with one all along," Katara smirked.

          The smirk didn't last as the sphere of ice began to glow yellow and orange before exploding. Shards of ice were sent everywhere as Zuko was released and charged at Katara. They exchanged shots which missed. Zuko managed to get passed Katara and almost grabbed Aang's collar. He unintentionally paused when he noticed Celina floating in the pond. This allowed Katara to blast him out of the way with a jet of water, sending him away from Aang. Zuko fell over the edge of the island and into the water. Before he had time to recover Katara raised him up ten or more feet with water and froze him in place.

          Zuko's face dropped in defeat for a moment before sunlight came into the Spirit Oasis. His head snapped up and had a fierce look of determination. He breathed steam, melting the ice that was holding him, and charged at Katara. She was not expected him and was caught off guard when Zuko threw a fire blast at him. Katara was thrown back into the post of the gate and was knocked out. Zuko walked over and grabbed Aang's collar before looking over at the girl he just knocked out.

          "You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun," Zuko said.

          He hoisted Aang up over his shoulder and was about to leave when he looked back at Celina. Zuko wondered why she was passed out in the water but quickly moved on before anyone could come and stop him. He couldn't let wondering about the girl stop him from achieving his goal. Still, when he climbed up the cliff of the Spirit Oasis he couldn't help but think that he was lucky he fought Katara instead of her sister. If what Katara had said was right then if he went up against Celina he would have definitely lost. But luckily it looked like things were turning up in his favor. Zuko just needed to escape.

* * *

          Katara opened her eyes and snapped back to attention remembering her fight with Zuko. She got up on her knees and noticed that Aang and Zuko were gone.

          "Aang!" Katara shouted. She failed. Appa landed on the island next to her, Sokka and Yue in the saddle. Both of them hopped down and rushed over to Katara.

          "What happened? Where's Zuko?" Sokka questioned.

          "He took Aang. He took him right out from under me," Katara answered sadly. She looked over at Celina in the pool. The koi fished swam around her tightly, almost as if they were protecting her. Katara felt even more disappointed in herself. A few fish could protect her sister and she couldn't protect Aang. "I can't believe I lost him."

          "You did everything you could and now we need to do everything we can to get him back," Sokka said, trying to comfort her. "Zuko couldn't have gotten far. They must have gone somewhere into the tundra, otherwise, we would have seen them when flying over. We'll find him. Aang will be fine."

          "Okay," Katara agreed. "Help me get Celina out of the water. I don't want to leave her along her while we look for Aang."

          Sokka nodded as the two got Celina out of the water and carried her onto Appa's saddle. Katara bended the water from her body so that she wouldn't get sick while Yue wrapped her in a blanket to keep her warm as Celina's coat managed to get burned during Katara and Zuko's battle. With everyone on Sokka flew Appa off into the tundra happening above the Spirit Oasis. Katara looked over at her sister. She hoped that she and Aang were having luck in the Spirit World.

* * *

          Celina freaked out when she found herself in a dark forest. She could only assume that she was in the Spirit World but Aang was nowhere to be seen. They entered into their spirit trance together so why wouldn't they be together now?

          "Aang! Aang!" Celina shouted only to have no one answer.

She began to worry. Why was she in the Spirit World? How was she in the Spirit World? Celina thought that she was only able to see spirits, not travel into their world like the Avatar could. But now that she was here she knew she had to look for Aang and find out where the Moon and Ocean spirits were. So Celina wandered through the forest, following a trail of colorful glowing mushrooms. She didn't know where she was going but decided to stay in the lit area, not wanting to literally wander blind in the dark forest.

          "Hello? Is anyone there? Aang? I need some help," Celina called out as she went along, hoping a friendly spirit would come and help her.

          Celina continued to get no response until she came to an open clearing. The clearing was lit by a warm yellow light as autumn leaves covered the ground. What she was surprised to see, however, was a familiar red dragon curled comfortably amongst the leaves.

          "Fang?" she spoke, remembering the name of Roku's dragon. The dragon in question looked up at her. He didn't make her feel uncomfortable like last time. Instead, he looked at her as an old friend. "Oh, is it good to see someone familiar. Look, Fang, I'm trying to find the Ocean and Moon spirits. Can you help me?" Fang nodded and then motioned for her to get on his back. Celina did as the dragon instructed and climbed up onto Fang's back. He made sure that Celina was secure before taking off.

          Fang rose above the trees, allowing Celina to get a better look around the Spirit World. The forest was large and neighbored a swamp that Celina was happy she didn't end up in. Towards the end of the swamp, the trees died down to reveal a large black tree handing off a cliff. Celina tensed when she saw the tree. She needed to stay as far away from that tree as possible. Fang roared, causing Celina to look at what they were approaching. The forest ended when it met the ocean. An island sat in the middle of the water which housed an intricate temple. Fang landed in front of the entrance and Celina dismounted.

          "Thank you, Fang," Celina thanked. The dragon nodded in response and flew off. Celina turned to the entrance of the temple and wandered in, searching for the Ocean and Moon spirits and hopefully Aang. "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm looking for the Ocean and Moon spirits," she called out into the halls. Celina received no response but when she got further into the temple she heard people talking. She followed the voices outside into a garden where she saw a woman with flowing yellow hair, scantily clad in a golden robe which barely covered her breasts. The woman was surrounded by people who wore little clothes as well, all of them in different conversations.

          Blush stained Celina's face but she needed to push past her discomfort if she was going to find out where the Ocean and Moon spirits were. "Excuse me. I'm looking for the Ocean and Moon spirit. Can one of you tell me where to find them?" she asked. The conversations stopped as everyone looked over at Celina. The girl stood there awkwardly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The woman in the golden robe stepped towards Celina looking completely awestruck.

          "Celina, my darling," the woman spoke.

          "Um, I'm sorry, do I know you?" Celina asked confused. She didn't think she knew any human spirits. The ones she always interacted with were animal-like creatures. So how would this woman know her? The woman saddened hearing Celina's question.

          "No, I guess you wouldn't. We haven't been together since the day you were born. But oh, you're here now. You finally made your way back to me. My daughter is able to communicate with us!" the woman exclaimed with joy. The people behind her cheered hearing the woman's declaration. Celina stood there in confusion.

          "What?" The woman grabbed hold of Celina and pulled her into her, hugging the girl close to her.

          "Oh, it's been so long. I was beginning to think that I would never get to see you again. My how much you've grown. How beautiful you've become. You certainly inherited my good looks," the woman cooed.

          Celina pulled herself out of the woman's grasped and backed away from her, afraid and confused. "What are you talking about? You can't be my mother. My… my parents died in a blizzard. Besides, you're a spirit! How could a spirit have a child in the normal world? It's not possible," Celina rambled. The woman looked at Celina in shock and concern before turning back to the people behind them.

          "Leave us, we have much to discuss," the woman told them. They nodded and then filed out of the garden and back into the temple. Only Celina and the woman remained. Celina had a strong feeling to run but found herself frozen in place. The woman tightened her robe around her and turned back to Celina. "Sit down, we have a lot to talk about."

          Hesitant Celina nodded and followed the woman over to a small table and chairs where they sat down. She knew that it wasn't a good idea to anger the spirits and running away from this one might do just take. Celina shifted uncomfortably in her chair, waiting to hear what the woman was going to tell her.

          "I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Ai and I am the Spirit of Love. The spirits you saw earlier are my devote followers. There are more spirits around the temple, followers of my husband, Bishamon: the Spirit of War," she explained.

          "Wait, you can't be saying that the two of you are my parents. That's insane. You can't expect me to believe that," Celina interrupted, seeing where she was going with this already. The look she received from Ai told her otherwise. "Spirits, you actually expect me to believe that."

          "What do you think happened to your birth parents?" Ai questioned.

          "They died in a blizzard," Celina answered instantly. That was what she was told whenever she asked Hadoka and her mom about her birth parents.

          "And you survived? An infant survived a blizzard but the parents didn't? Sounds a bit ridiculous to me," Ai said.

          "I… uh…" Celina muttered, struggling to find a response to what she was saying.

          "And what of their bodies? Did no one bother to look for them after the blizzard passed?" Ai continued to question.

          "Well they tried to but… but… you seriously can't think that I'm going to believe that you're my mother and that my father is a spirit as well," Celina replied.

          "Look, honey, I know that this is a lot to take in," Ai tried to comfort her.

          "I just don't understand. Okay, say that you were my mother and that I was the daughter of spirits. Wouldn't that make me a spirit as well? And if… IF that was the case then why would I be in the physical world?" Celina asked, hoping that Ai didn't have an answer.

          "Perhaps to answer that we should head back inside the temple," Ai replied and got up. Celina followed after, trailing behind as Ai led her through the temple. The spirit began to explain things as they went. "As you know, this war has been going on for a hundred years. In the beginning, things were fine for the spirit world. War has happened many times before this one and they'll still occur in the future. So we didn't freight as we knew the Avatar would bring the balance back before anything became too serious for us. But the Avatar disappeared and as a result, us spirits have been affected, mainly your father."

          The two of them came upon a room guarded by two spirits. They bowed slightly for Ai and Celina before opening the chamber door for them. As she entered Celina noticed that the room was dimly lit by orbs of light. A large bed was the focal point of the room but the man in the bed was the one drawing attention. He was naked, his lower half covered by a sheet which Celina was grateful for, as sweat covered his tanned skin. His long black hair was tangled in some places and his breathing was ragged. The man looked extremely ill.

          "This is your father," Ai told Celina.

          "This is Bishamon? This is the Spirit of War? Why on earth would the war cause him to become ill? I thought that he'd get stronger from the constant fighting," Celina asked.

          "Ever since the war started your father has received thousands of prayers for strength and courage in battle. Usually, that's not an issue but humans have forgotten offerings in return. In fulling a prayer we give up a bit of our energy and the offerings help us to rejuvenate. Your father has been fulling prayers without receiving anything in return and because of that, it's drained him of his energy. I don't know how much longer he can take of the constant pleas," Ai answered worried.

          "Come now, my lily, I can hold on for a few more decades," a weak masculine voice somewhat chuckled.

          "Oh, Bish," Ai sighed, giving her husband a small, but concerned smile. Celina had to admit that they were a cute pairing. She could practically feel the love for each other radiating off of them.

          Noticing another presence in the room Bishamon looked over and was shocked to see Celina standing next to his wife. "I hope this isn't a fever dream. Is my little girl actually here?" he asked.

          "Yes, she finally made it to the Spirit World," Ai confirmed, dragging Celina over to his bedside. Celina felt obligated to kneel down so that the ill spirit could see her better. What surprised her is when he reached up and cupped her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

          "My oh my, you're as beautiful as your mother," Bishamon said to Celina. Looking into his eyes Celina couldn't help but feel an instant connection to the man. The way he cradled her face and the way he looked at her with such loving eyes just screamed father to her. It started to sink in that perhaps Ai was right. Perhaps she was the daughter of Love and War.

          "So… you two are my parents," Celina admitted. Ai couldn't help but smile widely hearing that Celina accepted her heritage. "It's nice to finally meet you both but I'm still confused. If I'm your daughter then why did you abandon me? Why am I living in the physical world?"

          Ai and Bishamon's faces dropped when she asked this. "Celina, my little turtle duck, please understand that we didn't want to leave you," Bishamon told her. She found it calming that he was already using a pet name for her but still didn't understand.

          Ai sighed. "We decided to send you to the physical world so that you could stop the war," Ai informed her.

          "What?" Celina questioned confused.

          "The war needs to stop and with the Avatar having been gone for such a long time we thought it best to take into our own hands. So we sent you there to grow up and learn to fight and end this war," she explained.

          "But then why couldn't I learn to fight in the Spirit World and when I was ready, go stop the war?" Celina asked.

          "Spirits traveling to the physical world takes a lot of energy and unless someone is there on the other side to pull us through we are not fully present. We would become ghosts, only able to appear every so often or through reflective surfaces. The only reason you were able to get completely pulled through was because of a slight tear in the Southern Spirit Portal that used to connect the worlds together. A high energy, spiritual storm was passing by that briefly tore open a bridge," Bishamon explained.

          "The blizzard," Celina muttered.

          "Yes. The opening was too small for an adult to fit through but a baby could pass just fine," Ai added. "We placed you close so that someone would find you and adopt you into their home. We've been trying to contact you through your dreams for years but there was always another presence that blocked us from doing so." Celina couldn't help but feel like she knew the presence they were referring to.

          "At least the spirits we got to teach you waterbending were able to relay back information," Bishamon commented.

          "What spirits? I learned waterbending by myself," Celina asked confused.

          "No, sweetie, we asked the Ocean and Moon spirits to teach you waterbending. They would send out a type of learning energy, encouraging you to perform certain types of bending moves," Ai explained.

          "The Ocean and Moon spirits! I can't believe I almost forgot. The whole reason Aang and I traveled to the Spirit World was to find the Ocean and Moon spirit," Celina remembered.

          "If that is the case then why isn't the Avatar with you. There aren't that many spirits who know where the Moon and Ocean are?" Bishamon asked.

          "Maybe Roku sent him to someone else," Celina wondered.

          Hearing this Ai became angry. "Are those past lives so petty that they'd send him to that demon's lair," she growled.

          "What is she talking about?" Celina asked Bishamon.

          "It seems that Roku sent your friend to talk to Koh the Face Stealer," Bishamon answered. Celina tensed upon hearing the name and began to shake in terror.

          "Celina, what's wrong?" Ai asked her concerned, placing her hand on Celina's forehead to see if she was coming down with something.

          "Koh… he's the one that's been haunting me. Ever since I was little he comes into my dreams and hurts me. He said he wants my face." Celina told them, trying to hold in tears.

          "That bastard! I'll kill him!" Bishamon roared and tried to get up from the bed.

          "Bish, careful. You need to conserve your energy," Ai scolded, pushing him back down.

          "Why would Roku send Aang to Koh?" Celina asked confused.

          Ai sighed. "I'm afraid that's a subject for another day. You should go back to the Ocean and Moon spirits now. If the Fire Nation is attacking the Northern Water Tribe then the spirits might be in trouble."

          "What do you mean? I haven't found the Ocean and Moon spirits yet?" Celina questioned.

          "Yes, you have. The Ocean and Moon spirits, Tui and La, are living in the Spirit Oasis," Bishamon informed her.

          "The koi fish! If the spirts are in trouble then I have to get back to the physical world!" Celina told her parents. "But how do I get back?"

          "Just concentrate. Close your eyes and will yourself to wake up. We'll see each other again in your dreams. Now that you've made your way to the Spirit World yourself we'll be able to find each other more easily," Ai answered.

          "Goodbye, my little turtle duck, and good luck," Bishamon wished. Celina nodded a goodbye and closed her eyes, urging herself to wake up back.

* * *

          Opening her eyes Celina saw that she was back in the Spirit Oasis but began to panic when she saw that her body was missing. She was going to circle around the area to try and find it when suddenly her ghostly body was pulled away from the Spirit Oasis and into the storm above. She was relieved to see her body was with Appa, Yue, and her siblings and woke up suddenly once her spirit returned to her body. Celina let out a gasp and sat up, causing the blankets wrapped around her to fall.

          "Celina!" Sokka and Katara exclaimed, excited that their sister was back in the world of the living.

          "Why aren't we in the Spirit Oasis?" Celina asked confused, wrapping the blankets around her body. The storm was harsh and she was without her overcoat.

          "Zuko took Aang. We've been trying to look for them," Sokka explained to her.

          "Look!" Katara explained, pointing out a glowing comet in the sky. Celina felt a familiar presence with it.

          "That's gotta be Aang! Follow after him. We have to get him and get back to the Spirit Oasis the Ocean and Moon spirits are in trouble," Celina told them.          

          Everyone nodded and Appa followed after the glowing comet. They landed when they noticed Aang trying to crawl out of a cave with Zuko following close behind him. They could see the joy on the monk's face when Appa landed next to him.

          "Think you can handle this one?" Celina asked her sister, fighting wouldn't be the smartest idea without a coat in this storm. Katara nodded and then jumped down from Appa to confront Zuko.

          "Here for a rematch?" Zuko asked getting in stance.

          "Trust me, Zuko, it's not going to be much of a match," Katara responded.

          Zuko threw a fireball at her which she easily blocked. Katara sent a shockwave of ice hurtling towards Zuko and encased him in a pillar of ice. She proceeded to raise Zuko up high and then drop him, knocking Zuko unconscious and quickly ending the fight. Sokka jumped down from Appa and cut the rope that bound Aang.

          "Hey! This is some quality rope!" Sokka discovered and pocketed the cut rope.

          "We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble!" Aang exclaimed.

          "We know, Celina told us," Katara told him. Aang looked up to see Celina looking over the side of Appa's saddle.

          "Where were you? You disappeared when I got to the Spirit World," Aang asked her.

          "It's a long story. Come on, we need to get back to the oasis," Celina answered and motioned for him to get on Appa. Sokka, Katara, and Aang got onto Appa, Aang taking Appa's reigns and was about to fly off when he paused to look over at the unconscious Prince Zuko.

          "Wait, we can't just leave him here," Aang said.

          "Sure we can. Let's go," Sokka dismissed, not caring if Zuko froze to death or not.

          "No, if we leave him, he'll die," Aang protested and jumped down. He grabbed Zuko and brought him back into Appa's saddle.

          "Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us!" Sokka said sarcastically.

          "Just tie him up. We can't waste any more time here," Celina told her brother. Sokka grumbled while he tied up Zuko.

          Aang in the meantime turned Appa around and began to fly Appa back to the Spirit Oasis. While they were flying, however, the moon turned red causing a red light to fall over the white snow. Celina, Yue, and Aang held their heads in pain.

          "Ugh…" Yue breathed.

          "Are you okay?" Sokka asked the princess.

          "I feel faint," she answered.

          "We feel it too. The Moon spirit is in trouble," Celina said, looking up at the crimson moon. She couldn't help but feel pained for her waterbending master.

          "I owe the Moon spirit my life," Yue told them.

          "What do you mean?" Sokka asked, hoping that she'd elaborate.

          "When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born but I was born as if I were asleep. My eyes closed," Yue explained. "Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon."

          "That's intense," Katara said.

          "And I thought it was weird that the Ocean and Moon spirits were my waterbending masters," Celina commented.

          "What?!" everyone exclaimed and looked over at her, causing Celina to shrink down into her blanket.

          "It's… it's been an interesting day," Celina muttered. "But that doesn't matter. We have to get back to the Spirit Oasis."

          They arrived back to the Spirit Oasis to see Zhao holding a bag with the Moon spirit in it. He held a knife to the bag, ready to stab the fish. Momo jumped on his head before he had the time to do so and ended up alerting Zhao that the gang arrived. They were about to square off against Zhao and his men but Zhao caused them to pause.

          "Don't bother," he said, pointing the knife at the Moon spirit again.

          "Zhao! Don't!" Aang cried out.

          "It's my destiny… to destroy the Moon… and the Water Tribe," Zhao told them.

          "You do that and I promise you'll regret it," Celina growled, feeling protective over her teacher and fellow spirit.

          "Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world," Aang explained.

          "He is right, Zhao!" Everyone looked over to see Iroh walk up next to the pond.

          "General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao lectured bored.

          "I'm not traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance," Iroh told him. "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you tenfold! LET IT GO, NOW!"

          Celina suddenly felt a ton of respect for Iroh and was surprised to see Zhao lower the bag. He kneeled down next to the pond and released the fish back into the water. The red color vanished from the moon allowing for the natural glow of light to return. Upon seeing this, however, Zhao was overcome with a look of madness and desperation and with a cry of rage blasted the water with fire. Everyone recoiled in horror as the moon blacked out.

          Iroh sprang into action, firing blast after blast at Zhao who blocked one and backed away. His guards came to take care of Iroh but ended up being easily dispatched by Iroh. Zhao looked on at Iroh in horror before fleeing from the Spirit Oasis. Everyone walked over to the pond to see the black koi fish swimming frantically around the white koi fish that had a terrible gash in its side. Iroh gently lifted the white fish out from the water with an expression of sadness.

          "There's no hope now. It's over," Yue said on the verge of tears.

          The sad expressions on Celina and Aang's faces turned into ones of determination. Aang's eyes and tattoo's glowed white as he entered into the avatar state while Celina's irises glowed a bright blue.

          "No, it's not over," they both said in otherworldly voices.

          Aang walked into the pond while Celina headed out the doors of the Spirit Oasis. Sokka and Katara went to stop them but Iroh held them back, seeing the work of spirits taking matters into their own hands. While the four of them watched Aang disappear in the water and come up as a giant glowing water monster they couldn't help but wonder what was about to happen with him and where their sister went off to. None of them bothered to notice that Zuko had escaped and left the area.

* * *

          Zhao ran. There was no way that he would go up against General Iroh, that would be an instant defeat. He was running over a footbridge somewhere in the city and turned onto a parapet when he was almost hit by a blast of fire. Zhao turned to where the blast came from and saw Zuko standing above him.

          "You're alive?" Zhao said shocked.

          "You tried to have me killed!" Zuko exclaimed and launched several more fire blasts at Zhao who dodged.

          "Yes, I did. You're the Blue Spirit, an enemy of the Fire Nation!" Zhao said, his voice dripping with venom. "You freed the Avatar!"

          "I had no choice!" Zuko replied. Zuko continued on, firing blast after blast at Zhao. He blocked the blasts with his hands.

          "You should have chosen to accept your failure, your disgrace! Then, at least you could have lived!" Zhao told Zuko.

          Zhao began to return fire as the two of them shot blast after blast at each other. Zuko got a hit in however when Zhao left his chest unguarded causing the older man to fall off the parapet and onto the tier below them. Zuko jumped down to continue with his attacks but was taken off guard by Zhao who recovered faster than he expected. Zhao knocked Zuko off his feet and was about to go in for the kill when a wall of water came up and protected him. Both firebenders were confused.

          "Zhao!" an angered voice shouted. The man shivered in fear when they looked over to see Celina coming towards them with angry glowing eyes. A static feeling filled the air as she approached. Zhao went to run from her but Celina used her waterbending to pick up water and grab Zhao, keeping him in place. Zuko crawled out of Celina's way, not wanting to make her angry.

          "What? How?" Zhao stuttered confused.

          "You killed my waterbending master," Celina growled.

          "You're waterbending master? The Moon spirit taught you?" Zhao asked in disbelief.

          "I was taught by both the Moon and Ocean and you killed the Moon. So now I must get vengeance for my teacher," Celina replied just as the moon returned to its normal state in the sky.

          "Wait! Wait! The moon is back. Your teacher is back!" Zhao said, begging for his life.

          Celina looked up at the moon and became angrier when she saw Yue's spirit flying up to the moon. The princess must have given up her life in order to bring the Moon Spirit back to life. Celina turned back to Zhao enraged. "Your actions have caused two deaths today and that will soon turn to three. It's time you felt the Ocean's wrath."

          Using her waterbending she bended water from the canal and forced it down Zhao's throat. Celina's hand extended as her bending reached inside Zhao's body and felt the water fill his lungs. Feeling that the Ocean Spirit was still not satisfied Celina located Zhao's heart and with the tightening of her hand, crushed it. His body went limp and the water holding Zhao dragged his body into the water, causing him to sink into its depths.

* * *

          Zuko watched as the glowing in Celina's eyes disappeared along with the static feeling in the air. Celina grabbed her head in pain and then passed out. Zuko stared at her unconscious body in shock. What did he just witness? He had no idea that the girl contained that much power. He guessed learning from spirits would be the cause of that. Zuko couldn't help but feel a bit bad for Zhao. But he had to move on. He was in no shape to try and kidnap the Avatar again and with the Fire Nation still attacking the Water Tribe now would be a great time to escape without either side noticing.

          Zuko got up to leave but paused after a couple steps. He looked back at Celina. With the fighting going on and her being unconscious the girl would end up freezing to death from the arctic temperatures and something about that rubbed Zuko the wrong way. Perhaps it was because she healed him in the past. Perhaps it was because she stopped Zhao from killing him earlier. Or maybe it was because he didn't want to get on the spirits bad side by just abandoning their student. Not after what he saw.

          Sighing, Zuko walked over to Celina and lifted her into his arms, carrying her bridal style. He looked around for a little while before finding an empty house that hadn't been destroyed. Once inside Zuko placed Celina down on the house's fur rug. She looked peaceful and almost innocent. Zuko couldn't help but think that Celina looked beautiful with her hair down. Shaking the thought from his head, Zuko headed out of the house and began to make his way out of the city. He did the right thing in making sure she didn't freeze, now he needed to leave before he was captured by the Water Tribe or the Fire Nation. Hopefully, his uncle would be around with an escape plan.

* * *

          Celina didn't know where she was when she woke up. Morning had come and everything was peaceful. It was clear that the Water Tribe managed to win thanks to Aang and to Yue's sacrifice. Heaviness hit her as Celina realized what she'd done. Things where a bit blurry in her mind but what was crystal clear was what she did to Zhao. Celina hung her head. The number of emotions that had built up from the night's events was overwhelming and she was exhausted. She didn't know what she'd say to Aang and her siblings. They'd have questions and Celina didn't know if she had any answers. She didn't know what to think after what happened. She looked out the window. Morning had arrived and everyone was probably looking for her. Part of her really wished that she could go back to sleep but that would have to wait. Right now she just needed to show them that she was alive.

* * *

          Sokka, Katara, and Aang all rushed to hug her when Celina made her way back to the citadel, happy to see that she was well and good. Pakku even made an appearance, handing Celina an overcoat so that she would be warm. She almost forgot she wasn't wearing one. After putting on the coat she joined Pakku in looking over the city, hoping to avoid an onslaught of questions from her siblings and Aang.

          "I've decided to go to the South Pole. Some other benders and healers want to join me. It's time we help rebuild our sister tribe," he told her.

          "That's great. They could use the reinforcement," Celina said, though her mind was still on other things.

          "Is there something wrong, Master Celina?" he asked.

          "It's just that… a lot of things happened last night and I… Master Pakku… have you ever killed somebody with your waterbending?" she asked.

          Pakku's eyes widened upon realizing the reason for her question but kept calm for the sake of Celina. "Yes. My first kill was a Fire Nation soldier," he answered.

          "I killed Admiral Zhao," Celina whispered. Pakku pulled the girl into his side. He was impressed that someone so young could take out an Admiral. But right now she needed comfort and he was the one she chose to tell.

          "It will be alright, Celina. I know what your experiencing right now is hard but you'll move on," Pakku told her. Celina accepted the comfort from Pakku. The two stayed like that for a minute before Celina regained her composure as Katara walked up to them.

          "Master Pakku! I heard that you were leaving for the South Pole. What's going to happen with Aang? He still needs to learn waterbending.

          "Well, it's a good thing that he'll have two master waterbenders traveling with him," Pakku answered.

          A large smile appeared on Katara's face hearing that she'd become a master waterbender. Celina gave her sister a small smile, she was proud of her sister. Her attention turned to Aang however when she noticed the airbender looking out over the city.

          She walked up to him and the two exchanged a look, the both of them having a burdened look in their eyes. The two of them came together in a tight hug as if telling each other that it will be alright and that they'd get through it. Sokka, Katara, and Momo joined in soon after with Appa floating next to them, trying to be apart of the hug as best as he could.

          Celina looked out over the city, uncertain of what the future held for her, for Aang, and for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story continues in Book Two: Earth & Discovery


End file.
